God Calling

Everyday Christianity: First Things (2)

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1.7

“What is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
That You should visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?” Job 7.17, 18

Called to be saints
For the apostle Paul, calling was an everyday concern. The idea crops up frequently in his writing, suggesting that it was frequently on His mind. Paul lived every day forward, pressing on in everything he did “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3.14).

We who, like Paul, profess faith in Jesus Christ are called. In the first instance, we are called to Jesus Christ, to receive His forgiveness, gaze at the glory in His face, work out the salvation He has given us by being daily transformed into His likeness, set our minds on Him, exalted in glory as the north star of our journey of faith, and enjoy eternal and unchanging fellowship with Him (2 Cor. 4.6; Phil. 2.12; 2 Cor. 3.12-18; Col. 3.1-3; 1 Cor. 1.9).

In short, we are called to be saints, set-apart-ones, devoted to Jesus and His calling, mission, and agenda. And we are called to Jesus every day and every moment of every day, in every situation and all we do. Jesus comes to meet us every morning by His Word and Spirit, to remind us of His work on our behalf and renew our calling to Him:

Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild restless sea; 
day by day His sweet voice sounding
saying, “Christian, follow Me!” Cecil Frances Alexander (1852)

Every day. Every moment. In and for everything. Jesus calls us.

Called to the Kingdom and glory of God
Paul elaborates on the aims of that calling in 1 Thessalonians 2.12. He urged the Thessalonians, and by identification, us, to “walk worthy of God who calls you into His own Kingdom and glory.” Through our Lord Jesus Christ, God calls us to His Kingdom and glory. He calls us to “walk” worthy of our new existence, our new citizenship; and that idea of walking relates to whatever we might do throughout all our days.

God calls us to His Kingdom. As followers of Jesus Christ, the King of kings, this only makes sense. The Kingdom of God is a realm of transforming grace and power, not mere words (1 Cor. 4.20). The power of the Kingdom is deployed by the Spirit of God unto righteousness, peace, and joy in Him (Rom. 14.17, 18). Paul wrote, “For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.” Seeking the Kingdom of God is to be the defining priority of our lives, every day, in all we do (Matt. 6.33). All aspects of our lives must be brought into the service of these ends.

For this is how we experience and express the glory of God. The glory of God is simply Him, in His beauty, goodness, and truth, making Himself known to us and through us into the impermanence of our world. He Who is eternal and unchanging, in Whom are fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore (Ps. 16.11), deigns to make Himself and His weighty (the essential meaning of “glory”) Presence a daily reality for us. By His power and glory, He enhances and enriches our citizenship in His Kingdom and makes us living witnesses of His Son. As we realize more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God, that Kingdom—in its glory and permanence—comes on earth as it is in heaven, and by it our everyday world is by degrees transformed.

We belong to a Kingdom not of this world, and to the most out-of-this-world King anyone could ever imagine. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit are our calling card.

Visited and tested every day
And to renew us day by day in this glorious calling, King Jesus comes to visit us every morning. To visit you every morning. In His Word, where He is the subject of every book, chapter, and verse (Jn. 5.39), and by His Spirit, Whose remit is to teach, fill, and to empower us to remember, prepare for, and carry out our calling day by day.

And Job said that not only does God visit us every morning, but He tests us every moment of every day. David tells us that the righteous God tests His saints (Ps. 35.5), examining our desires and thoughts (Ps. 7.9) to see whether we are walking worthy of Him and His Kingdom and glory in all we do (1 Cor. 10.31). He can do this every moment because, as He has promised, He is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28.20) and He knows what is in every one of us (Jn. 2.25).

God is calling. Calling us today to be the set-apart disciples and witnesses of Jesus who rejoice in His fellowship, bask in His Presence, and live for His glory in all we do, every moment of every day proclaiming the permanence and light of our salvation into the darkness and dreariness of a fallen world.

So be sure to welcome Him every morning, and to press on to pass every test according to His Word, by His power, for His glory, unto righteousness, peace, and joy.

For reflection or discussion
1. What is the glory of God? How do you experience His glory?

2. Why does the Lord visit us every morning? Does He have a message for us? A word? Some reminder?

3. How do you experience the moment-by-moment testing of the Lord? How does knowing this affect how you live your day?

Next Steps—Transformation: Jesus will be waiting for you tomorrow morning. How will you prepare now to make sure your visit with Him is one of fellowship and fruitfulness?

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).

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This week: Our Read Moore podcast begins readings from the book, Patrick: A Devotional History. In our Crosfigell teaching letter, we are studying examples of the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. And in the daily Scriptorium column we are working our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you. 

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