“Now it is pleasant to my heart,
I give thanks therefore to God,
My going to the glen is a good fortress,
And only my angel will be at my disposal.”
He was fleeing from the world,
Fear of its peril possessed him;
He would have preferred, had it not been wrong,
To go from it forthwith to heaven.
– The Monk Solomon Life of Coemgen
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
– Philippians 1.21-23
Hard road ahead
The day I came to faith in Jesus, I was led to understand that God loves me, has a wonderful plan for my life, and that plan is realized in Jesus. I was not, at that time, advised that following Jesus would often prove to be a difficult road, but I was encouraged to keep my eyes on Him, come what may, and His wonderful plan would unfold for me day by day.
Something like this must have been in Coemgen’s mind as he took up residence in Glendalough and began to prepare to build a community. It was “pleasant” to his heart to consider this calling. He gave thanks to the Lord for even caring about him. He believed that his monastery would be “a good fortress”, doubtless against all manner of spiritual struggle, and that his angel would be with him at all times.
He was “fleeing from the world”, Solomon tells us, and he understood that he was leaving behind comforts, distractions, frivolous endeavors, friends, family, and fortune in so doing. Nothing was going to keep him from carrying out the calling God had clearly pointed out to him.
For he had his mind on Christ. He would have preferred to go straight to heaven and into the Presence of the Lord forever. But he knew that to long for this at the expense of not carrying out his calling would be wrong. So he took up his work, in a new world for a new order to bring the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom to his world.
Called of God
Each of us has a calling from God, an appointment, or a “condition”, as Paul refers to it in 1 Corinthians 7—a place where God has stationed us to do the work of being witnesses for Jesus, making disciples, and seeking His Kingdom and righteousness. Our calling is as important to the Lord as Paul’s or Coemgen’s, and we can learn from them what fulfilling this calling requires.
First, to flee the world. We cannot have it both ways. Either we follow Jesus into His Kingdom and righteousness, shedding every worldly preoccupation, desire, and diversion, so that we can become equipped to minister the grace of God to the people in our world, or we continue to drag all manner of worldly interests as a chain, anchoring us to a dying age. This doesn’t mean that we all must become monks, like Solomon and Coemgen, or that we have to leave our “secular” jobs to find some position of ministry. Your calling will be unique to you, and whatever that entails you doing—and it will daily require a variety of “works”—and wherever that finds you at any time, your calling is to bring the new world of Jesus and His Kingdom to bear on everyone and everything you touch.
It is true that God has a wonderful plan for all our lives. And it’s also true that the pursuit of that plan and the realization of the blessings that go with it will require some hard work, some difficult times, and some uncomfortable and challenging conditions.
And many temptations to hold on to worldly ways.
But God is with us, and so are His angels. Nothing can separate us from His love, and the only thing that can keep us from more and more of His exceedingly abundant salvation is our unbelief, disobedience, or sloth.
For Reflection
1. How would you explain your calling to a fellow believer?
2. How should you prepare each day to take up your calling afresh?
Psalm 84.1-4
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
LORD of hosts, how sweet Your dwelling;
how my soul longs for Your courts!
Let my soul with joy keep telling
of Your grace forevermore.
Like a bird upon the altar,
let my life to You belong.
Blessed are they who never falter
as they praise Your grace with song!
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are investigating the role of culture in God’s Kingdom. Our Read Moore podcast wraps-up working through The Gospel of the Kingdom, to understand the true Gospel of the Lord. The focus of our Scriptorium daily study is Ephesians 6. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
