As a child, did you ever play the game, “Follow the Leader”? What about “Simon Says”? One of the benefits of these games that I think we all played, was that we had to pay attention to things happening in front and of us. If we didn’t pay attention, we would run the risk of being “out.”

Games like these require three important steps. If you answered “yes” to play these games, you learned these three steps as a toddler playing them in school, church, or the backyard with friends. In the midst of the fun however, they were also teaching you and I valuable lessons that we would use for the rest of our lives. Simple steps of paying attention, obedience, and being responsive to what was being directed.

Come to find out, games like “Follow the Leader” and “Simon Says” have been around for a very long time. In Mark 2:13-17, we read about a man named Levi. Levi was a tax collector. Tax collectors weren’t exactly well-liked individuals. They weren’t the epitome of someone the religious elite, and quite possibly Jesus’ other disciples, would have chosen to become a follower and disciple of Christ. Like you and I, Levi wasn’t someone the world would look at and think of as being a disciple of Christ. The world sees our past mistakes and our present-day failures and setbacks. Thankfully, God sees past the surface. Levi was a tax collector until the Doctor came to town and called him out.

Every Christian can be a disciple of Christ by following three key and important steps. What if I told you that you’ve probably been using these three steps since you were just a toddler?

HEAR

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Levi knew who he was. He knew what he did for a living and that he was despised by most Jews. What went through his mind when he heard that Jesus was coming to town? Perhaps when Jesus came and was passing down the street, undoubtedly being surrounded by so many who wanted to either catch a glimpse of Him, speak with Him, or see a miracle, that Levi just sat there waiting for all the commotion to pass. I think about when I was in school and the teacher would ask a question and I didn’t know the answer. That happened a lot! What did you do in those moments? I would sink as low as I could, hide my head behind the person sitting in front of me, and hope the teacher didn’t call on me. Of course most of the time, I couldn’t escape that he or she would call on me.

Perhaps Levi sat there in his tax booth listening, hoping Jesus would pass by without noticing him, and he would just get to hear what Jesus was saying to others. After all, it’s isn’t everyday that he was able to see this Man who had stirred up such a commotion and sparked such interest amongst everyone. Maybe Levi was hoping he would have the chance to witness a miracle…as long as he wasn’t bothered and didn’t have to get “uncomfortable.” Then the two words came that probably sent shockwaves throughout Levi’s body. Mark 2:14 tells us that Jesus saw Levi and said to him, “Follow Me.”

RESPOND

Hang on a second! Didn’t Jesus know who Levi was? Didn’t He know what Levi did for a living? How hated he was amongst the other Jews? Yes, yes, and…yes. As soon as Jesus spoke those two words, “Follow Me,” Levi was left with a decision to make. The same decision you and I were confronted with when Jesus spoke to us. The same decision we are still confronted with from the moment our eyes open in the morning until they close at night. Like Levi, we must choose between faith and salvation or opposition and rejection.

Levi’s next steps would ultimately change the course of the rest of his life. He could have responded with a chuckle to himself and continued to sit there. He could have stayed in his comfort zone and with what he knew. But verse 14 tells us how Levi responded to these two powerful words Jesus spoke to him personally. God’s Word says that, “And he rose and followed Him.” Jesus’ words to Levi demanded a response – follow or stay. Much like “Follow the Leader” and “Simon Says,” the command required a response.

When I think of this, I am reminded of my sixteen years in the military, standing in formation, and listening for commands. These were commands to march, stop, salute, stand at attention, stand at ease, turn left, turn right, turn around, slow down, and the list goes on. I was always listening to what was known as the “preparatory command.” What would follow next was known as the “command of execution.” You didn’t want to be the one standing in formation, not listening, and subsequently falling to respond. Nothing looks more hideous and causes more confusion than one person in a formation not responding to the “command of execution.” Nothing stands out more than one person out of step with the rest of the ranks while marching. Jesus’ preparatory command was “follow” and His command of execution was “Me.” Levi followed and it changed his life forever. How about you?

ACT

Levi heard and he responded, much like you and I did when Jesus “called” us. We heard Him knocking and drawing us to Him, and we responded in some sort of way. Perhaps that was receiving Him and placing our faith in Him. But a response always involves action.

Like Levi, action for Christ will almost always require us to step out of our own comfort zones. It will require something of us. Sometimes that action will result in persecution. Sometimes, like many of the disciples and early Christians, that action will start the hourglass towards their execution. Levi, as we read at the end of the passage, would face persecution and insults from the Pharisees.

Action will never keep us right where we are, especially when it involves service and discipleship with Christ. It always involves stepping into the unknown, much like Philip in Acts 8. When God told me to return to college and complete my degree for future full-time ministry, I heard Him and responded in obedience. But there had to be action. I actually had to find a school, enroll, do homework, and finish.

Every person who claims to follow Christ can be a disciple of Christ by learning how to listen to God in prayer, reading His Word, and through other Christians, respond to what we hear God telling us, and then by responding and acting on what we are told to do.

So what? Has Christ “called” you? Do you sometimes, like I have, pray, but rather than throw everything at God and allow Him to direct you, you hold back something because you’re afraid to step outside your comfort zone? In other words, do you pray, “Please use me wherever You want me,” but already have it set in your mind that it must be on your own terms? Are you like Levi and not expecting Christ to see you and call you out? Do you think that because of your past or who others perceive you as, you are not worthy of Christ’s calling? If so, then congratulations! You’re in excellent company! God’s Word is full of ordinary men and women, who left to their own standards and the world’s, were not worthy of God’s calling. But God called them, they responded and acted, and He used them to turn their families, regions, and the world upside down for Him. Each of them had three things in common: they heard, they responded, and they acted.