December 21 – Stick to Your Calling
Dear Marisa,
«Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God…. Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.»
(2 Timothy 1:6,9)
Are you doing what God called you to do?
If you haven’t ever thought about it before, that may sound like an odd question to you. You may be tempted to shrug it off and say, «Oh, I’m not really called to do anything. I’m not a pastor or a teacher or a minister of any kind…I guess I’m just what you might call a little finger on the Body of Christ.»
Let me tell you something: No matter who you are, God has put a holy calling in you. He’s designed you and called you to meet a need in the Body of Christ that nobody else can meet quite like you can.
You may be called to be so successful in business you can finance the gospel worldwide. You may be called to a ministry of prayer and intercession. You may be called to a ministry of healing right there in your own neighborhood. But no matter what that calling is, it’s important and you need to follow it!
If you’re like many believers I know, you may have let your life become so overgrown with other things that you just don’t have time to pursue your calling. You may be so overwhelmed with the cares of life that you can’t imagine how you can fit in anything else.
Over the years, a pastor friend of mine got involved in so many different areas of ministry that he was about to fold up physically under the strain of it. The overload was actually about to kill him. Finally, the Lord spoke to him one night and said, «John, it’s not your calling that’s nearly killed you. It’s everything else you’ve added to it.»
I’ve had to deal with that in my own life. I’ve had to quit doing things just because they need doing. I’ve had to discipline myself to sticking to what I’m called to do.
Make up your mind to prayerfully trim away the extra things you’ve added to your life. Stir up the gift God has placed inside you. Get back to what He has called you to do.
After all, that calling is vital. It’s holy…and it’s yours. Don’t ever let it slip away from you.
