Matthew
22:14 (KJV)
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Jeremiah
1:5 (NKJV):
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I
sanctified you;I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
It
arrived in a gold-edged envelope. Carefully opening the flap so as not to
damage this exquisite correspondence, out came an invitation:
You are cordially invited to have an
audience with Her Majesty the Queen in Buckingham Palace at 11:00 AM, Wednesday
21 October ….
No
matter what was already scheduled for that day and week, you can be sure that
the recipient of this invitation would ‘clear the decks’ to make sure they were
available for their appointed time.
Yet
believers in Christ have received something much more prestigious and
infinitely more valuable. It is referred to as ‘the call of God.’ It is a
sobering and awesome responsibility and yet it is indisputably the highest of
honours.
Life
is much more than about mere survival: what will I eat, drink, wear, or sleep.
Also, it is more than success, which connotes a temporal worldly reward.
Ultimately, it is about significance: making a difference, ‘leavening a mark’ in
the hurting, fallen world. Yet, in order to reach true, lasting, eternal significance,
one needs to partner with God - on His terms! This can only be done by
responding to ‘the call of God.’
All
great men and women of God, past and present, obeyed the call, paid the price,
never lost focus, and, through faith and patience obtained the promise (Hebrews
6:12). Many cook up their own idea and come to God to endorse it. Yet, those
who are bountifully fruitful simply accept God’s call, timing, and idea. And
never forget, the God idea is the the only one that works, the man-made, home-cooked
idea, does not.
In
order to understand the ‘call of God,’ it is important to see the following:
The Call of God Can Be
Personal
A
young Samuel was raised in life and ministry by the high priest Eli. He was
already in God’s service before he personally new the Lord. While it is
honourable to be serving God, it is of the utmost importance to ‘come to God,’ let
God ‘come into you,’ and grow in your knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). We
need to k’lift up you gates, and be lifted up you everlasting doors, and the
king of Glory will come in (Psalm 24:7, 9, 10; Revelation 3:20).
How
can we forget that transformational incident on the Damascus Road when Jesus
called a vicious, violent, and malevolent man from Tarsus. ‘Saul, Saul, why do
you persecute Me?’’ The religious bully, blinded by the bright light of God’s
glory, fell off his donkey and asked: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Here is a man who
thought he was ‘serving God’ by persecuting the infant Christian church;
instead, he now understood that He not only ‘tried to serve’ a God he didn’t
know but also offered service that was ‘erroneous’ and defiled. Whatever Saul
did to Christians, he did to Jesus personally.
Samuel’s
call and Saul’s call were personal. God knew them and their name even when they
did not know Him. Yet with the privilege came awesome responsibilities. In Saul
of Tarsus’, he would be shown the great things he would suffer for the Lord’s
sake (Acts 9:16).
The Call of God Can Be
Universal
There
is a universal call of God for the ‘whosoever wills.’ There is none more
important than the call which is given to everyone: say ‘Yes’ to the gospel of
grace in Jesus Christ. God wills that
all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4).
Acts
2:39
(KJV): For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
The
universal call is not just for salvation and Spirit empowerment; it is also for
service. This is well-illustrated when God, high and lifted up on his throne of
glory, asked the question: who shall we send and who will go for us? A wise
young Isaiah put up his hand to the call and replied, ‘Here I am Lord, Send me.’
(Isaiah 6:8). And God did.
The Call of God Has
Responsibilities
The
privilege to be called of God also contains sober responsibilities. This is a
particular challenge in our day, where a growing communal immaturity expects,
even demands, perks and privileges, while trying to ignore the commitment and
responsibilities that come with it. Yet responsibility and privilege go
hand-in-hand and attempts to sever this connection will only result in dysfunction
and disaster.
Responding
to the call of God means that the Almighty becomes ‘the boss.’ Where we go,
what we do, when we do it, are now determined according to God’s timetable, not
ours. He is the Commander-in-Chief. Our cherished autonomy is set aside for the
greater good of the greater call. While God does not want to micro-manage your
life - when to brush your teeth, what to eat for breakfast, or which colour of
socks you must wear - there is a strong awareness that our personal desires are
irrelevant when serving the Lord. Like royalty, we are committed to doing our
duty without thought of whether we want to our not.
While
there is a sincere desire in the heart of God’s people to serve Him, we will be
tempted to seek to cleave to ‘the comfortable, familiar, and safe.’ While to
the flesh this seems reasonable, to the Spirit it is a hindrance and offence.
After all, those who ‘play it safe’ have no need to put all their trust in
Lord, since their trust is in those things which they know. We cannot please
God unless we exhibit continuous faith and trust in him. The familiar will
become a distraction and detour from the divine call and invariably causes us
to remain on the ‘wrong side of the fence.’
TO
BE CONTINUED
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