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The call.


I really never understood why the disciples just left everything and followed Jesus.  I mean they did this BEFORE they knew they were in the presence of the One and Only, God in human form.  They had no idea of Who He was, they just followed. 

They would later both see and do miracles.  They would heal the sick and see Lazarus raised from the dead. Their teacher, their Lord, the Great I AM – yet their friend had summoned them - and without hesitation, they followed.
 

 
I don’t know if I will ever understand it.  I mean, imagine, you leave your home and your family for Someone who invites you to “follow Him”.  You live with Him and travel with Him, closely connected by a common bond.  The bond?  A calling. 

 
 
 
 
 
Matthew 4 says it this way:

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

So much in common – yet so different.  All Jewish.  Some poor, some rich.  Some schooled, some not.  Their bond was holy though, don’t you think?  These men, these first disciples that Jesus called, were exactly who God wanted. 

What exactly is “the call” – a prompting maybe?  A following?  Destiny maybe?    My Bible Dictionary says, that “call” means “a verb with several shades of meaning.  It can mean to label something or someone.”

How interesting!  Our calling is our label?  In other words, it is who I am – it is who I am born to be – my calling.  In the Book of Ephesians, Paul writes in Chapter 4:

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called.  One Lord, one faith, one baptism - one God and Father of us all.

 
We, as children of the God Most High, are labeled with ONE HOPE – we are part of ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM – that is who we are.  We are His.  We aren’t children of the world, we are children of HOPE – THE ONE AND ONLY HOPE. 

So, what does that mean for us?  Instead of having our minds set on what our nature wants, our sinful nature btw, our minds are set on what God wants – (Romans 8:5-8).  What our sinful nature wants is hostile to God, but the mind controlled by the Spirit?  Life and peace.  And our call is just that – to live as God would have us live – full of His Spirit – doing His will – fulfilling His purpose.  Totally and completely HIS. 

The disciples truly completed their “call” after Jesus ascended when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  Then they fully understood.  Then they lived the lives they were called to.  Then, and only then, was their destinies complete.

I don’t know about you, but that is my sincere prayer – to live the life worthy of my calling, as Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians –

As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Dear Lord, make it be so.

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