God is trying to get in touch with you. This is a friendly
reminder to answer the call!
How do I know that God is “calling” you? God tells us so in
the Bible (and certainly this has been many people’s experience who have come
out of something else into Christianity). Even though my telephone analogy is
obviously a new way of conceptualizing the biblical “call,” the idea that God
is “calling” you is found in scripture.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
A call to
relationship with God
God’s call is first and foremost a call to relationship! Whatever
previous image you had in your mind about God, perhaps as a distant authority
figure who demands money and worship and correct adherence to rituals, I want
you to put that all away and see what the Bible reveals of God’s character. The
true and living God who created you and me is personal and relational.
God is calling you because he wants to have a relationship
with you. The Bible uses a number of relationship metaphors to help us
understand our interactions with God. For example, the Bible describes God as relating
to us similar to a parent who adopts a child (Romans 8:15), a close friend
(John 15:15), and a loving spouse (Ephesians 5:25).
Indeed, in a sense you could say the whole purpose of life
is relationship – with God and with our fellow people. Jesus explained that
the first great commandment is to love God, and the second is to love our neighbours
as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). God’s law is simply a revealed blueprint for
perfect relationships with God and with each other (think of the 10
commandments each falling into one of these two categories), and sin is simply the
violation of those laws (1 John 3:4) and thus a disruption of relationships.
If you look at the Bible as a grand narrative from creation
to the defeat of evil, you can see God’s desire for relationship with you! It
was there in the Garden of Eden when God walked and talked with his creation –
that is, before we disobeyed God and hid from his presence (Genesis 3:8). It
was there throughout the chronicles of ancient Israel when God led his people
out of bondage and through a number of trials. It was there when God dwelt
among us as a man in the form of Jesus Christ (John 1:14). And it is there in Revelation’s
depiction of the eternities when God restores his kingdom and dwells among us
in the heavenly city:
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their
God.” (Revelation 21:3)
A call of grace
You do not have to be perfect to enter into a relationship
with God. You don’t even have to be good. In fact, God knows that you and I are
rebellious, filthy, and broken. And he loves us anyway. As I’ve said before,
Christianity is not about joining a holy club where everyone can dress nice,
behave properly, and look down their noses at everyone else. People who think
that are missing the whole point of the Christian message: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Jesus said, “They that are whole have no
need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17)
The amazing news is that God is calling you regardless of
what you’ve done. In fact, he called you before he even created you. As the
Bible says, God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began…” (2
Timothy 1:9)
Don’t ever think that one day you’ll clean yourself up, turn
yourself around, and maybe be good enough for God. Just stop it. You don’t ever
have to be good enough for God! God is good enough for you. No
self-righteousness required, only the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3-4).
A call to come out of
darkness into light
You may not think of yourself as living in darkness. Saul of
Tarsus certainly thought he had his life all together – he was a religious man,
perfect at keeping the law, born into a decent social standing. But when he
came to know Jesus he said that was all DUNG (Philippians 3:3-9). Religion! Rule-keeping!
Social status! Appearing like you’ve got it all together! All of it is worthless.
It didn’t matter what he looked like to the outside world.
He was still a sinner. He still had a filthy heart. After he finally heard God’s
call and became a Christian, Saul of Tarsus (now going by Paul) testified that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
(1 Timothy 1:15) Incidentally, you can read of Paul’s
amazing conversion story in the Book of Acts, chapter 9 (if you don’t have a
Bible, use a free online one like biblegateway.com).
And so, regardless of your social status, religion,
ability to keep rules, or how good you look to everyone around you, I want to
suggest that you may be just like Saul of Tarsus, myself, and every other sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And like all of us before
encountering the transforming light of Jesus Christ, you may be in darkness.
The good news is that God is calling you
out of that darkness (1 Peter 2:9), whatever it may be. You don’t have to fix
what’s broken about you (you can’t, only God can) – all you need to do is
surrender it to God. Drop your old idols on the ground right now and walk away.
Renounce your old sins, addictions, secret rituals, and even your church if it
keeps you from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God has so much more
planned for you.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)
“And I heard another voice from heaven,
saying, Come out of her [spiritual Babylon], my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
(Revelation 18:4)
“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in
the Lord: walk as children of light… And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of
those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”
(Ephesians 5:8-13)
Conclusion: Answer
the call
God’s call for you will be individual and personal, suited
to your particular situation. But the basic pattern is the same, and is
emphasized throughout the Bible. Answering God’s call is not like picking up a
badge and putting it on your Boy Scout sash next to all your worldly accomplishments
– it’s like picking up a cross, dying to your old self, and following Jesus
Christ. This is hardly a flashy commercial for a Boxing Week sale – but it is
better than that. It is Jesus’ offer of life eternal.
“He that loveth his life shall lose it;
and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”
(John 12:25)
“I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”
(Ephesians 5:14)
“That as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus
Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21)
“And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
(John 17:3)
God bless you!
