You cannot see Him yet, but He is close to you all the time, and He can see you and hear you in an instant when you speak to Him.
By and by He will give you endless pleasures at His right hand for evermore.
"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.
"Fain I would to Thee be brought,
Blessed Lord, forbid it not:
In the kingdom of Thy grace
Give a little child a place."
[XII. "Follow Me"]
Soon after Jesus had chosen Peter and James and John as His disciples, He was walking near the lake of Gennesaret when He saw Matthew sitting at the place where the people had to pay taxes.
For Matthew was not a fisherman, like the others, but was a taxgatherer employed by the Romans to collect money from the Jews.
These taxgatherers were very much disliked, as they often took more money than they ought, and kept it for themselves, so that the Jews hated them and dreaded to see them coming.
But the Lord Jesus chooses disciples from all sorts of people. He does not wait till we are good, to call us to follow Him; but He says to us, just where we are, at school, at work, at play, in the street, in the home, in the shop, "Follow Me."
And these words mean, "Keep close to Me, where you can see Me and speak to Me. And if you keep close to Me, by and by when I lead the way into My glory in Heaven, you, if you are following Me, shall come with Me and share all I have."
So Jesus called Matthew the publican; and Matthew heard His call, and rose up, and left all and came after Jesus.