John 10:3 “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
The other night some friends and I were talking about the call of God. I suggested that maybe God is always calling us but we aren’t always listening. At that moment the phone started ringing in the kitchen, and we didn’t answer it because we were having Bible study. That’s a well-time illustration. Sometimes I’m home, but I’m not available to answer the phone. What if God is reaching out to me and I’m not answering that day or month? I know that he can get my attention if he wants to, but it makes sense to me, that since God doesn’t need my help (although he wants it), that if he has a local opportunity to participate in kingdom work, he rings my spirit. If I’m not answering, his will is not stopped.
Think about the honor it is to be called by God to do even the smallest thing. On my own, I am not worthy to serve in the household of God, but he has chosen me and made me worthy through the blood of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-10 says that we are saved by grace though faith, not by works, but so that we can do good works. God has something for you and me to do that matters in his kingdom and contributes to his story.
My current focus in quiet time with God is not to read the whole Bible this year or to journal five days a week or to pray for certain lists of people a certain number of times. Even if I were doing those things in my time alone with God, I would subordinate them to this: opening the word and asking God to call to me through his word and through the Spirit. Every day I read the Bible there is a calling for me, away from myself and into the will of God. Holy Spirit leads me in prayer, who to pray for and sometimes how to pray for them. How is God calling you?
