Friday, September 2, 2016

What is a calling?



1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Have you given thought to your calling?  What is a calling?  Is it to become a minister, or a teacher, and those are callings but this one must come before all others, it’s the call found in verse 24, it is the call of the Spirit of God to enter into a personal relationship with Christ Jesus?  Where were you when you were called, let me share I was religious, I was selfish, insecure, drifting in a world of fear, trying my best, but knowing my best was not going to be enough.  So I identify with verse 26, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were of noble birth.”  That’s on the spot, but let's keep going in verses 27-29, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the present of God.”

This goes against everything you read in most of the books on success, the self-help books are full of the world’s wisdom.  So what book are you reading, the wisdom of men, or the wisdom of the Creator?  Even the church is often teaching the wisdom of this world, and the biggest of lies comes from the preacher who tells you, “God wants only good for you, never should you have sickness, or death of a child, only prosperity.  That is not the message of Christ, for he is clear, in this world you will have troubles, but take care for He has overcome the world.  So this calling is special, but not so that we might boast in the presence of God, but in verse 30, we come into a clear understanding of whom we should boast in.  “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

All glory, all honor goes to our big God, our LORD, and master, it is not found in a denomination, a group, a movement, it is only found in Christ our LORD, so do as verse 31 states; boast in the Lord.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

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