In the 8th grade, I got my first job…washing and waxing cars across the street from my house. I gave it my best shot but within 2 weeks, the owner told my dad it wasn’t working out. I found out quickly my calling was not in the car industry in any shape or form.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians chapters 1-3 how much Jesus has done for us. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we have been adopted into God’s family. We co-heirs with Christ. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have so much to be grateful for in Christ Jesus.
So Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:1, “I beg you to live a life worthy of your calling because you have been called by God.” Now, in America we get caught up in what we are called to do. Am I called to be a lawyer or work in retail? Am I called to be an electrician or a movie producer? Am I called to be a spouse or live single? Am I called to get this college degree or that one?
But Paul is reminding us that calling is about who you are before what you do. Our calling is our identity. We are called to be holy, set apart from the world. We are not driven by the things of this world but called by God, infused by Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a holy life.
See, I know I am called to be a minister/pastor at the local church. I know I’ve been called to be a father and husband. But I can be those things and not living a holy life. If that happens, then I am not living into my calling. It’s a who before you do. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:17, “In everything you do, do it to the glory of God.” It’s a call to holy living. It’s not about what I do but who I am as I do those things.
We get caught up in titles and positions…in the amount of money we have…in the kind of job we have. Paul is telling us in doesn’t matter about any of those things but about how you do them. You see, the size of your assignment never determines the significance of your impact.
Just like that little shepherd boy who was taking lunch to his brothers. He got to the camp and heard the local bully cussing out God Almighty. So the little boy picked up 5 smooth stones and ended that ridiculous episode. Or the little boy who went to hear Jesus speak one day in the middle of nowhere. He was the only smart one to bring something to eat. Late in the day, it was his small lunch that Jesus broke apart to feed thousands of people.
The size of your assignment never determines the significance of your impact.
As you live everyday with the spirit of “less of you and more of Jesus”, when you live where it’s not your name you care about but the Name of Jesus, when the focus is about how you are living for Jesus and not the dollar…you won’t need to find your calling because your calling with find you.
So one day you realize there’s someone in need, you’re called to meet that need. You’ll see someone who’s hurting and you’re called to listen, to cry with them, to help bear their burden. You might be in a space where you’re called to love a spouse that’s difficult to love or pray for an adult child who keeps running away from God. Maybe it’s a call to confess sin that’s been holding you back. And you hear Paul’s voice, “Whatever you do, honor Jesus.”
What am I called to do? It starts with who. You are a child of God, coheir with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit. So live a life worthy of your calling. Jesus has done so much for you. Won’t you live for him? Blessings on your journey.