Circuit Thoughts

In Matthew 9:9, Jesus walks up to the tax collector booth, looks and sees Matthew. He then says, “Follow me.” The verse ends with only the act of Matthew getting up and following Jesus out of the door.

I can’t help but wonder what else might have been said. Did Matthew question where they were going? Did Jesus say “Hi” first? Did Matthew have to clock out, or sign a waiver? Quite frankly, the narrative is a little vague on this. But, since this was written by Matthew himself, it is a pretty good bet that Matthew got up from his table and left everything behind.

The call to be a follower of Christ is a call to leave everything, or at least be willing to leave everything behind. When Christ calls us to ministry, we don’t ask where, when or to whom? We respond by just doing and going. Why do we do this, you ask? Because we are being called by the one who knows us better than anyone in the world. Christ calls us to the ministry He wants us to be a part of. Our task is to be available, that’s it.

I came to ministry from a sales background. I sold furniture, trucks, lawn services, and eventually insurance. Salesmen are not too high on the trust list. Yet, through all that, Christ still called me to be a pastor. My response was, “Yes”. I did not know where or to whom I would be called to serve, but I just knew I had to go. I went, and God provided the way and means to raise my Family. He even provided a job for my wife that extended her career. From that moment 24 years ago to today, there has been no regret for getting up and following Christ.

Christ calls us all to some kind of ministry. Not everyone will be called to the pulpit, or to be a missionary in some far-off land. Everyone is called to make disciples by bringing people to Christ. Christ calls everyone, at every stage in life, to be His followers.

Today, we are facing a shortage of called persons to serve Christ. I personally believe it is because many are not given the opportunity to hear the Good News of Christ. It is almost a vicious circle. People don’t hear about Christ, so people don’t know Christ. People don’t know Christ, so people won’t follow Christ. People won’t follow Christ, so there are less people called to share Christ. It’s a circle that needs to be broken. And that is where you come in.

Get to church and learn all you can about Christ. Bring the kids and spouse. Make church the priority. Immerse yourself in scripture and above all else, be in prayer. The more you know of Christ, the more you can share. The more you share, the more people will hear about Christ, thus the circle gets reversed. But it must start with you.

Pray, Worship, Learn, then Go and make Disciples.

Shalom my friends.

See you in church.