Small steps can make a big difference. One night in law school, a good friend asked me if I wanted to make a quick stop at the Dairy Queen near campus. It seemed simple enough. Little did I anticipate at the moment that our “quick stop” would lead to a deep conversation that would set us on the path to dating and—a couple of years later—marriage. An ostensibly simple ice cream trip played a pivotal role in the orientation of my entire life.
I wonder if Matthew anticipated his life would change forever when Jesus called to him. After all, the evangelist tells us earlier in this chapter that Jesus had just returned to his town, Capernaum. And immediately after he summons Matthew, we see Jesus sit down at table—in his own house, it seems—with tax collectors and sinners.
When Jesus told Matthew to “follow him,” perhaps Matthew thought he was simply accepting a dinner invitation. Maybe he thought he would enjoy a good meal, listen politely to what Jesus said, and sit back in his customs post the next day. In any event, Matthew answered the call, and doing so changed his life forever. One chapter later, we read of Jesus commissioning his twelve apostles and sending them out to proclaim the kingdom. Matthew, the tax collector, was one of them.
Just as he called Matthew, Jesus calls us—each day—to follow him. Answering that call may look different for each of us because we all have an unrepeatable part to play in God’s redemptive plan. But what matters in the end is that we follow in Jesus’s footsteps. And even small steps in that direction can make a big difference.