Follow Me

“Follow me.” Matthew 9:9

Some days I think oh, I’m doing well, I’m not such a big sinner. Other days, I see my heart and mind the way God sees it, and I know He is disappointed in the filth and selfishness. The last time I got my x-ray results, it showed that my aorta is tortuous and calcified. I have a concrete picture of what the prophet Jeremiah said in chapter 17, verse 9: “More tortuous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?” 

When Jesus saw Matthew, the tax collector, he saw a sinner as well. Matthew’s heart was tortuous with greed, and who knows what else. Other Jews saw him as a traitor who collaborated with a foreign power the same way some of our leaders are giving away our seas, our lands, the livelihood of our people and the future of our children. It seemed to the Jews there was no hope for this tax collector. But Jesus saw him differently. He said, “Follow me,” and Matthew followed and the rest is history. 

Even if my heart is tortuous, Jesus knows there is hope. He sees my future and says, “Follow me anyway.”