When God calls us, what are we to do? Why does He call us? He calls us to do one thing: worship. That is our purpose, to truly worship. We can worship Him through our praise, through our testimony, through learning about Him, through spreading His word, and anything that involves putting Him at the center of your daily life; but all of this starts with a call. Before we can lift up the cross, we must be called to do so.
"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father's household to the land that I will show you.'" (Genesis 12:1) When God called Abraham, He was calling to a man who lived in a sinful place, in a sinful household, and in a sinful family. His father worshiped other god's and Abraham was well in age. He was not young when he was called by God to start a new life. In fact, he was 75 when he entered Canaan. That is old enough to be thinking of retirement plans over starting a new life. But, God called Abraham and Abraham responded. He did not think of his age, or how secure he was at home, or what his father would think, or what the city would say about him. He heard God speak, and he left.
Some of you may say, "well, yeah, that was Abraham. Of course he went when God called him," but look carefully at the first like in Genesis 12:1. He was still Abram. This was before he was the great godly leader that we all think of now. This was the old Abraham who would probably be better known for his mistakes as opposed to the miracles he did with God. He was just like any of us. He made the choice to run to God and not use any excuse in the book. God called him to drop everything, and he trusted in God.
Look at Jesus and when He called His disciples. Matthew 4:18-22 says, "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 send you out to fish for people.' 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 their boat and their father and followed Him." Look at these men. They did not know who Jesus was or that He was God. They only knew that He was calling them for something great and they responded.
Because Jesus is God, He called them with the authority of God. They could have either responded or ignored Him. Ignoring Him would be blatant sin, but since they listened, they could feel the authority and followed after God. Remember, they did not know what they would be doing or if they would ever return to their lives, but they abandoned everything the moment that God called them. They left their nets, their boats, and their families at once. Their nets were their only way of making a living, and their families were their homes. They left every sense of worldly security in order to follow God, just as Abraham did. They were not the twelve apostles yet, they were fishermen. They were ordinary people who followed the voice of God.
Abraham, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were as normal as we are. What made them famous was responding to God's voice. They did not question God or ask, "how long shall we be gone?" or "what will You have me do?" They followed without question. They had faith that God would not let them die or starve or thirst. They had faith that God would fulfill their every need, and He did. The question is, will we have that same faith when God calls us? And if not, what is keeping us from trusting God fully?
-D
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