“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed Him.”                                                                                          – Matthew 9:9

We have seen how the Savior’s call to the disciples and to us is a call to be what we were created to be, to do what we are wired to do.  Yet these words also tell us something about our Lord that is worth noting.  When He calls us to follow, He is letting us know that He knows the way…He has been there before.  It is a call to trust His lead.

I am reminded of my first visit to Warrenton.  I met with some folks at a local restaurant to talk about the church.  When we finished eating they wanted to take me to the church to show me around.  After a couple of attempts to tell me how to get there, someone said, “Why don’t you just follow me.”  What a relief!  Suddenly, the pressure of remembering the series of “rights and lefts” and the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar place was eliminated.  I was going to “follow” someone who knew the way and had been there before.

Likewise, the call of Jesus does not simply give these men directions on how to be a disciple, He would show them.  He would lead them.  “Follow me” assured them that He knew the way and He would make sure that they would get to the right place.

Peter and Andrew were willing to leave their nets because they trusted that Jesus would lead them.  Matthew did not walk away from his tax table because he knew all that would happen.  In fact, he probably didn’t have a clue.  But he trusted Jesus.  The words Jesus spoke were an invitation to trust Him.  There was no comprehensive plan laid out.  There was no follow up question…”Follow you where?”  That was not what this was about.  It was about trusting in a person…trusting Jesus.

So, when Jesus calls you today to “follow Him” you need to remember that He knows where He is going and where you need to go.  You can trust Him.  He will not take you anywhere that He has not already been and prepared for you.  Tomorrow morning when you sit at your desk to start work, He was there before you.  He was at school before you got off the bus, and He will continue to go ahead of you…you can trust Him.  The question is, will you follow?