At some point in life, everyone wonders: why am I here? Why is one a writer and the other a banker?Why is one a farmer and the other a soldier?Are these decisions made simply as a result of contextual events or conditions, or are they talking about something deeper happening in the person’s heart?
The scriptures talk about many types of calls. God called people to listen to what He said to them, sometimes in a special way, as in the case of the young prophet Samuel (1Sm 3), and sometimes in general, as in the case of the prophets’ calls to the people: ?Listen to the Lord’s words? There was also, according to the Bible, the very special call, which was reserved for the prophets, an event that normally involved directing the Lord to the prophet, in a divine encounter, to commission his prophetic task. For example, Isaiah’s. The call in the temple includes all the main elements of a prophetic call: a vision of heaven, the interaction between heavenly beings and the Lord, the reluctance of the prophet, the gift of a sign, and the clear prophetic message to the people (Is 6). Other prophets received his call to prophetic service in the same way: Was Ezekiel called into exile and the Apostle Paul was called on the way to Damascus?A call he referred to throughout his ministry as proof of his Apostle legitimacy.
- However.
- A legitimate calling does not have to be extraordinary.
- Even in scriptural examples.
- Let’s see.
- David was chosen by God to be the King of Israel.
- Although the prophet Samuel did not notice in the boy the obvious physical attributes that he expected to see in a monarch.
- Does the Lord.
- However.
- See the heart? (1 Samuel 16.
- 7).
- And David’s inward faithfulness credited him to the throne in a way that Saul’s unbelief could not.
- However.
- Years passed between David’s call and his ascension to the throne.
- And this created an opportunity for David to prepare for the call that God had placed on his life.
- As a shepherd.
- Young David learned the basic skills necessary to lead and protect a flock (the shepherd is a common analogy of kingship in the Old Testament).
- He also learned to trust in the Lord and in God’s faithfulness to the promises made to him.
- And this trust in the Lord gave David.
- For example.
- The strength he needed in his battle against Goliath.
- An event in which David he behaved in a different way.
- Fitting for a faithful king.
- In stark contrast to Saul’s decidedly unusual demeanor.
- As a court musician.
- David became familiar with Saul’s irregular behavior and issues of Israeli law.
- And probably perfected his craft as a poet and lead author of many of Israel’s psalms.
- All of these milestones provided moments in David’s life as he followed his call as the second king of Israel.
- We must be careful not to make too strict a distinction between her achievements at one point and her overall appeal.
- His calling developed organically throughout his life.
- So we can say with some confidence that young David among the shepherds faithfully sought God’s call on his life.
The story of Ester draws our attention to another aspect of the divine call that concerns us particularly today. In this story, Ester responds to the opportunity to ascend to the highest levels of the Persian empire. She was naturally endowed with physical beauty and intelligence, and this the gift gave her the opportunity to join the king’s inner circle. However, the peculiarity of Ester’s appeal only became apparent after Amman’s rise and his plan to exterminate the refugees of Judea. considering why she was elevated to the rank of queen, in a situation like this?(And 4. 14). She was the one God had called to free his people.
Esr’s book is remarkable among the books of the Bible, as it is the only biblical book that does not explicitly mention the Lord. This lack of reference to the divine has the powerful effect of giving the reader an idea of the harsh reality of the Bible. God’s people under Persian rule, at a time when the typical mistakes of the biblical faith were not as obvious as in Judah before exile, but the lack of an explicit reference to God also illustrates how a call is perceived in our contemporary world. The call is to make decisions based on our own gifts, personal interests and goals, the wise counsel of those around us, and the opportunities that arise throughout our lives.
Ordinary personal calls do not occur in the same dramatic way as the prophets and heroes of the Bible, but there is an important similarity between their calls and that of any other human being. We are all called by God to live our lives as those created in God’s image (Genesis 26-27). This call includes honoring our Creator through the first term, also known as God’s cultural mandate to fill the earth and subdue it ( v. 28; see also 9. 1). It explains why the urge to fill and dominate the Earth is so deeply ingrained in all human beings, even though it has been deeply perverted and scarred by the effects of the Fall.
We can say that this general call to all mankind forms the basis of each person’s individual call, for it bears witness to our unique position in creation as part of the creation made in the image of God. Each person is called by God to participate in this culture. mandate in a specific way, and this call includes all the ways in which a person relates to the world, including work, family relationships, church participation, political commitment, etc. In each of these areas, the bearer of the image is called to participate in a broader program of life development throughout the world, a task that reflects God’s divine work to produce a prosperous creation of what was ??(Genesis 2) This is the broader field in which individual life is launched. As our first parents in Genesis 1/2, we all participate, in an important sense, in the work of filling and governing creation as assistant rulers, under the authority of the sovereign creator king.
No work is so small that it does not give voice to this great and universal call, some people are called to perform tasks that take place on a large scale or even on a global scale, while others seek their vocation in a small community. The seemingly small calls have surprisingly enormous effects (it comes to mind Monica, the mother dedicated to prayer, Augustine of Hippo). All calls have a transcendent meaning, because human calls are born of our status as bearers of God’s image. the thought patterns of their students in their areas of expertise, the policemen who bring the civil order to their jurisdictions and the plumbers who order the flow and use of water in a society, even those who work on assembly lines of instruments and machines that play a role in human society.
For Christians, there is a particular and global notion of a call. As a result of the fall of humanity, all our work fell under the effects of God’s curse and alienation. Humans are always created in the image of God, but this image is tainted by sinful rebellion, from our first parents in the garden, and from every human being ever since. That anyone who is not in Christ can make a call in his life is a merciful act of God’s common grace. salvation and reconciliation with God, through union with Jesus Christ, address the question of appeal from the perspective of a redeemed image of God. Through their redemption, they can truly glorify God in their vocation.
The reformers have accomplished much because of this universal call in the Christian life; for them, the Christian calling meant that every effort should be made as a service to the Lord and for his glory (Col 3: 22-24; 1Co 10:31). This means that the Christian call should not be understood in hierarchical terms, in which the ministry of the Church is considered a sacred call in relation to the common callings of other types of services and activities, on the contrary, all vocations have equal value in God’s kingdom. This broader understanding of the call corroborates the biblical notion that every aspect of human life, be it a rector or a rivet, offers an opportunity to worship God. After all, we are called to love the one God with all our heart, soul and strength in the world (Deut 6, 4-5).
As we try to understand their own callings, today’s Christians should not expect something like the extraordinary experiences of biblical prophets, but seek in prophetic accounts an analogy useful to our own calling. Like the prophets of the Bible, Christians must recognize that their call comes from God. It is he who calls, although it is difficult to discern the divine voice among the many voices that seem to greet us at all times. Christians should therefore ensure that they immerse themselves in prayer in the Word of God in order to be in tune with His will.
We must also recognize that our calls can change. Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel have received different calls at different stages of their lives, so we must also hope that our call can change throughout our lives, as new opportunities arise and the times and needs of others change the people around us.
By discerning God’s call in their lives, Christians can learn valuable lessons from the examples found in the scriptures.
First, God’s call in our lives gives us the opportunity to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, soul, and strength (Dt. 6: 4-5); therefore, his call cannot force us to sin. The Christian call should be sought as an expression of our faith in God, and we must exclude any possible call that can only be executed in a sinful, destructive or unfaithful manner.
Second, God likes to give good gifts to His people (Ps 37:4; Mt 6, 28-33; 7. 11), Christians must therefore find their hearts aligned with the Christian call for this call to become an extension. your righteous desires. Moreover, as a Christian follows God’s call to him, he must find his desires formed by the task that God has entrusted to him. This does not mean that fatigue and even frustration sometimes cannot occur, but the attentive and repentant believer is strengthened. for the call, even in the midst of opposition; following the things he naturally likes to do, he will have a clearer idea of the elements that give him joy and satisfaction; Christians should also wait for their affections to mature and be shaped by the work they do until they begin to find joy even in jobs that were previously unsatisfactory.
Third, God creates His people for his calls (Jr 1:5). Most activities in this life involve certain kinds of skills to perform them correctly. Some calls require only rudimentary skills, while others require years, if not decades, of training. Staffing differs from the skill set in that donations typically cannot be acquired through later-in-life training. Natural and spiritual gifts can also guide the process of discernment. Some Christians are natural teachers, while others are good at encouraging or caring for others. Christians should strive to show every gift as the situation arises, but the scriptures suggest that some Christians are, by grace, more willing to give than another (Romans 12:6-8). Like all of God’s gifts, we are called to be good administrators, reversing our gifts in calls where they can be best used.
A word of warning from the prophets: the Lord wants to show his strength in our weakness. Moses suffered from some kind of obstacle to speaking, but was chosen to be the spokesman of God (Exodus 4:10). Isaiah’s unclean lips delivered a message of holiness and judgment against the people (Is 6:5). Jeremiah may have thought he was too young to be a prophet (Jr 1:6). Paul considered himself the main sinner because of his persecution of the church (1 Timothy 1:15). Sometimes a Christian is called to a task that seems so unlikely that God must be there to succeed.
Fourth, the Christian call is service to God and to others. If a person follows a call that has selfish or oppressive purposes, the call does not glorify God. William Perkins writes, “The real purpose of our lives is to be at God’s service in the service of man. “Our love for one’s neighbour must flow naturally from our love of God (Lv 19:18; Mt 22:38-39), and our union with Christ must demonstrate our own personal ethics, so that we are inclined to help them to the detriment of our own. (Fp 2. 1-11).
Finally, the Christian call is not something secret or mystical that is waiting to be revealed, when God calls his people, calls him to respond to the world around him, applying the teaching of the Word of God with rational minds, to discern how they can be called at any time or situation. As mentioned above, the human call can develop and mature throughout life. A person can graduate from college with a particular sense of vocation that will change several times in their life. It does not mean that God’s call in his life was disobedient or ignored in any way.
A call cannot save a person from his sin or make him righteous before God, but the call is the natural concern of those who have been saved. In many ways, the question of the Christian vocation is about why a particular person is saved. Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck writes: “True fulfillment of our earthly vocation is exactly what prepares us for eternal salvation, and putting our minds on things up there equips us for the true satisfaction of our earthly desires. “As we follow God’s call in this life, we prepare for eternity. As we keep eternity ahead of us, today we find significant satisfaction in our lives.