And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him (Luke 5:27–28, KJV).
Jesus didn’t ask for much from His disciples. He asked for something small—for them to follow Him. Once the disciples took their first step, they embarked on a journey with a Lord that would change their life forever.
Many of us today can look at the life of Jesus, or the life of the disciples, and think we could never measure up to what they’ve accomplished; that we can’t do anything great in the kingdom of God. But, all He asks is that we be obedient, have faith, and take a small step.
Matthew 17:20 tells us that if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, we can tell any mountain to get out of the way, and it will be moved—nothing shall be impossible for us. It doesn’t matter what we look like, our size, or shape, all that matters is the size of the faith inside of us to do something for the Lord!
In Scripture, Peter, James, John, and Levi all got up and followed Jesus. They took a small first step to move forward in their relationship with God. Because they moved—even a little bit—God used them mightily in His kingdom. God can take our small effort and do something great with it. God specializes in turning nothing into something; turning something small into something powerful.
The mustard seed is the smallest of all the seeds, but the largest plant (Matthew 13:32). If we’re willing to start—even starting out small—we can have a large impact in God’s kingdom. All we have to do is take the first step.