High calling

 Call to Prayer

Title: High calling

By: Simon Nuhu Maina

Date:04.03.2023

”I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

The book of Jeremiah, has abundantly given us clear knowledge of our prior individual pattern of God’s calling (Jeremiah 1:5). Even though we are born by and at different seasons, geographic locations, and different races, it is safe to deduce that God has a plan for every man. The calling of God though varies, some like Jeremiah were destined to be prophets right before conception, thus sanctified before their earthy assignment. A similar scenario is noteworthy as that of John the Baptist (Isaiah 40:3-4), Isaiah, through divine inspiration prophesied not only the arrival of John the Baptist but also revealed his ultimate assignment appointed by God to be the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. More so, Jesus Christ even though is the fullness of Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9), was prophesied by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, and several others.

The scripture was able to reveal the birth and prior assignment of a few great men, nonetheless, we are quite aware that all things written in the scripture are for our instructions and exhortation (Romans 15:4). I believe the essence of Jeremiah’s rare discovery of his before-conception calling is to understand the dimensions of God’s revelation and dealings with men. It is paramount we understand that there are different kinds of God’s calling; there is a pre-natural conception calling (such as that of Jeremiah and John the Baptist), post-natural conception calling [like that of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:3-11), Moses (Exodus 3:1-20), Isaiah (6:1-8)], and post-spiritual birth calling (which the disciples, apostles like Paul, and the vast majority of us have experienced). Post-spiritual birth calling of God happens after repentance and forgiveness of sin, sanctification, and Holy Spirit Baptism. This calling is uniquely high because it comes with exceeding and precious promises (1 Peter 1:4).

Dearly beloved, the calling we have in God is a boundless one, I would liken it to an endless ocean in which one can only sight its beginning, however, one cannot see the end. There is a mark to the calling which is attached to a certain prize, the mark is Christ Jesus. Jesus is the mark in the sense that, we look and take our instructions, modeling, and reference in Him, there is never too much of our sacrifice to the calling. In fact, as far as we are alive and actively working with God, we cannot outdo/outstretch the mark, because the mark is the height of our set perfection in God. Every calling in God is not evaluated by size or physical quantity but by genuine commitment and faithfulness; for in the end, all activities generated by the calling will be tested with the fire of God (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

In conclusion, the state or nature of our calling is not the most important but the effectiveness and results of it are what matters. Whether we obtained the call before conception or afterward does not actually matter.

Prayer point:

Let’s thank God for today’s message and also ask Him to help us heed our calling.