2Pe 1:10 ..be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
Calling?
When I was in my 3rd year of my BSc Degree I was called into the ministry. I knew that ultimately I would be a preacher and teacher of God’s Word. However, not everyone is called to be a “religious professional” in “full-time ministry” as I am, but I believe that God has some or other “calling” for every true believer.
Let us try to gain an understanding of the concept of calling. When God calls someone to a particular task, He graces them by anointing them with the necessary gifts and power to fulfil that role. We need to treasure the call of God and understand how to steward His gifts.
We have a good example in the Scripture of a man being called by God…
Saul’s Conversion and Call on the Road to Damascus
I suggest you read the whole passage in Acts 9:1-22.
Ananias, a reluctant disciple from Damascus was called to go and attend to Saul who had been blinded by light when God appeared to him and called him. When Ananias heard the name of his client, he objected…
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (Act 9:15-16)
So what can we learn about the call of God from this man?
Understanding Calling
Read Gal 1:13-17 where Saul later called Paul describes his call…
Gal 1: 15 – 16 (NKJV) “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being…”
The phrase, “When God… was pleased” underlines for us that:
We are called by the will of God, not by our own choice.
Calling is controlled by God’s timing not man’s.
Note that Paul was set apart in his mother’s womb (from before birth). In the mind of God, he was always called, but God had to prepare him to fulfill that call. (You need to understand that God is busy preparing you for what He has prepared for you.)
Calling is by grace and not by merit. Before birth, Saul had not yet done anything good or bad, but God had already determined His destiny and calling – likewise with you and me!
Calling is a priority above and before all ministry and exercising of gifts and talents. Indeed, ministry sometimes ends up distracting men and women of God from their primary calling. For example, Jesus didn’t let the demands of ministry get in the way of fulfilling his Father’s calling which was to die a substitutionary death on a Roman Cross to pay for the sins of the world.
The focus of Paul’s calling was to preach Christ before the Gentiles and their kings.
Paul did not subject His Divine call to human scrutiny too soon, but allowed God to work in Him. He first went into the desert of Arabia and then back to Damascus. However, there did come a time when He consulted with the leaders in Jerusalem who confirmed his call as the Apostle to the Gentiles.
I said earlier that I believe that there is some or other call on every believer’s life. How should we respond?
Responding to a Call
God wants to call many people to be co-labourers with Christ in the building of His Kingdom. He is asking, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” (See Isa 6:8)
He is on a “recruitment drive” and even urges us to pray for more personnel.
Mat 9:37-38 NIV “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
There needs to be a willingness on our part to respond and go. The disciples left their nets and everything near and dear to them to follow Christ.
I left the campus of my University with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat to respond to God’s call. Five years later I again had to leave a position to follow Christ. I gave up my job as the head of the Microbiology Division in the Research and Development department of a large Chemical/Biochemical Company to go to Bible College.
The stakes are high and many would-be disciples are unwilling to pay the price. This was the case in Jesus’ day too: He said to one man, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you come and follow me”. To another He said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He wanted them to consider the cost of discipleship.
Salvation may be a free gift, but being a disciple will cost you everything! There is even a sifting process amongst those who do respond…
Mat 22:14 NIV “…For many are called, but few are chosen”.
Many people don’t respond to God’s call on their lives because they don’t feel worthy or adequately equipped, but there is a true saying, “God’s callings are God’s enablings, God’s appointings are God’s anointings”. How then does God equip us to fulfil His call?
He gives us what I want to call…
An Anointed Heart
The unfolding of God’s call on our lives can be viewed as a journey. Part of the journey is to move our hearts to a place of being fully consecrated and dedicated for God’s purpose and will to be done in each of our lives. It is also a place of expansion that our hearts may be increased in capacity to carry more of His presence and power.
The significance of the anointing
People in Bible times were set apart or sanctified for a specific calling or task by an act of pouring fragrant oil over them. E.g. Aaron and his sons (You may wish to read Ex.30:22-32)
What the anointing does:
The anointing signifies the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus started His ministry on earth the Holy Spirit came upon Him to empower Him for the task. (See Luke 3:21, 22) The profound effect of the anointing on His life is summed up in the book of Acts like this…
Acts 10: 38 (NKJV) “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
The anointing of the Spirit is known to have the following effect:
Empowers us for Godly living (See Acts 1:8)
Stamps our hearts with the seal of God’s ownership! (Eph.1:13)
Eph 1:13 NIV And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
Manifests the presence of God! It will be evident to others that God is with us. (Acts 10:38)
When your life is fully committed to Christ in faith, His blood cleanses you and His Spirit sanctifies you, sets you apart and marks you as God’s own. This whole journey of heart preparation is firstly to up our connection with Jesus; to make us fit for fellowship and relationship with Him…and then to serve people.
Note that the main aim of the consecration of the priests was to minister to the Lord! (See Ex. 29:1, 44) Let us stay focused on the same!
(Make it your delight to stand before the Lord and minister to Him – Love Him, worship Him and listen to Him. Then serve others as He directs.)
Bottom Line
Psa 139:13-16 NIV For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
You are a masterpiece of the Master and He has built into you everything that you need to fulfill His plan for your life. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Learn to understand and appreciate yourself and employ your gifts and abilities to serve others. Peek over Father God’s shoulder to gain an understanding of His plan for you which was written in His book even before you were born. It will no doubt include loving and serving others.
1Pe 4:10 NIV Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
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