Each of us – all of us are called. No one is left out, no one is exempt regardless of your sins. If you are truly repentant for what you’ve done, who you have become, you can always turn and accept the call of salvation – right where you are. And once you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, you can rid yourself of your baggage and become that new creation (2Corinthians 5:17-21).
I always see this as our first call, and if first is the adjective, then second always comes next. While we are called, ‘just as I am’ the Lord has no intention of leaving us there. I believe our second call is found in 1Corinthians 12. We all have a purpose, a place. Example:
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members
of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (v. 12)
But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body
just as He pleased. ” (v. 14)
We ALL may not always agree, or have the same specific call, but we truly are all one in and because of Jesus. How we function in the body varies (v. 19-21) but together – we do have everything. Never envy another’s gifting but focus on sharing your gift.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (v.27)
So what’s next? I would suggest that we begin to become who we are intended to be. The ‘how’?
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2Timothy 2:15)
And how do we ‘be diligent’ – study. We study the word of God to discover who we are, what we are called to be, and how to express this. I really enjoy how The Message Bible phrases this (2 Timothy 2:beginning in verse 14):
“Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn
them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the
faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best
for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the trust plain
and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not
mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they
accumulate as poison in the soul.”
We have model after model of what we can be as well as what we should never become. It’s never a guessing game… truth is presented without subterfuge. You never have to wonder ‘is this me or is this God’. Will we make mistakes? Of course. But there is never a need to compound them. Learn from them. Grow. Study. Become. Remember… you are a work in progress so you’ll never be finished with understanding. And what a marvelous adventure this discovering will be!
