Matthew Followed Jesus

Matthew 9:9-12

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called Matthew. Matthew was one of the special helpers of Jesus.

Our story begins in a town with lots of people. And in this town, there was a man named Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector. That means his job was to collect money for the town from everyone. But the problem was that tax collectors took more than they were supposed to, which meant that nobody wanted to be their friend.


One day, someone very important came to town. Jesus, God’s Son—the most important leader ever—came to town! Can you guess who Jesus talked to?


Yes! Jesus talked to Matthew. He walked right up to Matthew and said, "Follow me!" Do you think Matthew followed Him?


Of course! Matthew got up and followed Him because Jesus is the most special leader. The people who saw Jesus talk to Matthew were confused. They didn’t know why Jesus wanted to be friends with a tax collector. But everyone can follow Jesus and be His friend.


Later, Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house. And everyone was invited!


Jesus came to serve everyone because Jesus came so that EVERYONE can follow Him, even if you’re like Matthew and made a bad choice. Jesus came for ALL the people. Everyone can follow Jesus. Who can you follow? You can follow Jesus!



Bible Paraphrase: "Come and follow me," Jesus said. – Matthew 4:19, NIrV

Text Truth: Everyone can follow Jesus.



Family Devotional

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
– Matthew 9:9-12

Our Bible story was about a guy named Matthew. Jesus walked right up to Matthew and said, "Follow me." What did Matthew do? He got up and followed Jesus!

Jesus wanted Matthew to follow Him, even though Matthew had made some wrong choices. Can we follow Jesus even if we have made wrong choices? We sure can! Jesus wants everyone to follow Him! And when we do, Jesus will help us make right choices. Everyone can follow Jesus!

"Come and follow me," Jesus said. – Matthew 4:19, NIrV

Jesus wanted Matthew to follow Him, even though he had made some wrong choices. With your family, make a list of wrong choices—things you know you should not do.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. Thank God for sending Jesus to be your friend forever. Thank God that Jesus wants you to follow Him, even though you have made wrong choices. And thank God that Jesus helps you make right choices. Acknowledge you don't want to do things like (read through your list). Acknowledge that you want to follow Jesus and do what He does. Thank God for His love and acknowledge to God your love for him.

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Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence. 
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