It’s hard to define what belonging looks like, but it’s easy to spot what it feels like to be left out. Feelings of loneliness and a longing to belong can be especially prevalent on the mission field. When you leave your home for a new place, it can be challenging to feel at home anywhere.  

In Luke 5, we get to know a man who wasn’t even wanted in his own hometown. I wonder if Levi (aka “Matthew”) felt lonely or out of place. As a tax collector, Levi was automatically labeled as untrustworthy. People were skeptical of him. How often have we felt the weight of the skepticism and scrutiny of others as we work to follow Christ’s calling and further His Kingdom? Skepticism creates hurt and a feeling of having to try harder to earn acceptance--the opposite of belonging. Jesus knows all of this as He walks by the tax collecting booth in Luke 5 and calls out for Levi to follow Him. Levi does not belong in his own home, and yet Jesus calls Him into a new and better kind of belonging. Jesus calls Levi to follow Himself.  

While society cries out for us to follow rules, diets, fads, and cultural norms, Jesus calls us to follow Himself. We are not called to follow a movement, a policy, or an idea; we are called to follow a Person. This distinction makes a huge difference because people belong to other people, not to amorphous ideas or trends. When we belong to Jesus, we bond eternally to Him (see Romans 8:35-39 for more encouragement about the permanence of Christ’s love for us). Regardless of our location, we have a permanent Home in the One who calls us His own daughters. Regardless of the people surrounding us, we have a global family of diverse believers we can call our brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).  

You belong to the One who calls you to Himself from whatever you’re doing and wherever you are. You have a Home, and the One who is your Home is making His own home in you. Allow that peace-filled reality of eternal belonging to wash over you today as you go about the daily tasks that Jesus brings your way.