Very, very few preachers are telling you to leave everything and follow Jesus. But that’s what Jesus does repeatedly in the Gospels. Why? Because Paul (in Ephesians 2 and Colossians 1, and the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 2) says God’s plan is for the whole world to be brought under the headship of Jesus Christ. And so if disciples are going to be won to Jesus Christ, they must be brought under the headship of Jesus Christ. And in order to be brought under the headship of Jesus Christ, there can be no one who is His competitor for Lord of your life. There can be no thing that is more important to you in this world than the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the refrain is said over and over, “They left everything and followed Him.”

Now let me quickly say that looks different for different disciples. . . . You even see it in Luke 5. The disciples who were fishermen, who left their boats and followed Him, does that mean that they never fished again? No. We find them fishing throughout the Gospels. Clearly that was one of the ways they fed themselves, so they continued to fish. And you remember after Jesus’ crucifixion some of them were prepared to go back to their fishing trade.

Matthew, on the other hand, when he left the profession that he left, he left it without the capacity to ever go back to it again. You didn’t just walk out on the Roman Empire and say, ‘That’s it. I’m done. I’m not collecting taxes anymore,’ and then just go back into the office of the provincial leader and say, ‘You know, I’m thinking about that again. I think I would like to collect taxes again.’ When Matthew walked away, he was walking away from a very lucrative profession once and for all. He really did leave everything and follow Jesus. But however that plays out in our lives, that is the demand for every disciple.

You know, it’s not a surprise, is it, that a few chapters later in Luke 18, we’re going to meet a fine  young man, a morally upstanding young man, a wealthy young man who is a leader in his synagogue. And he comes to Jesus and he asks Him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And you know what Jesus says to him? “Leave everything and follow Me.” And you know what that young man does. He says, ‘I can’t.’ You understand, though, that that is the call to every disciple. That doesn’t mean that every disciple divests himself or herself of every last shred of his or her worldly goods and takes upon a vow of poverty for the rest of his or her life. But it does mean that there is no competitor to Jesus in your life (Ligon Duncan, sermon transcript).

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