The Right Response

2TI 1:9 NIV

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

There's an ORIGIN, a DESTINATION, a PURPOSE and a TIMING for everything God does. When God did the calling mentioned in the passage above, we had not yet even been born. It wasn't as if God didn't know what he was doing, but it is man's work to dismiss whatever he doesn't understand. God placed a call on our lives before we ever came to know him; our acceptance of him as Lord and Saviour is the activation clause for the phase of usage and blessings. When a man has not known and embraced God's purpose for his life, his life lacks direction and meaning. Until the purpose of a thing or life is defined, abuse and misuse are inevitable.

His call is not primarily to prosperity or outward success,but to HOLINESS. If there's any topic we seem to want to avoid, it is this issue of holiness and purity. I have heard people describe virginity before marriage as old-fashioned. I have heard people say that adultery isn't so bad as long as the other partner doesn't know about it. Really? Are you living for the other persons looking at you, or for the One person who has called you? Joseph understood one very fundamental point in life: everything I do is a service or disservice to God first. He told Potiphar's wife in  Genesis 39:9b NIV: My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”. He understood one foundational truth: it is the one who calls that you are to fear and follow, not a fellow- traveller like you. We live for the applause and approval of other people, forgetting that judgement is one appointment ALL mortal men will keep.

A warning though: God has called us from the foundation of the world to be his own children; people he can use to reach out with his message of hope to a hopeless world. His call is without fear or favour, and he doesn't call only those who appear to be qualified. For every person alive, there's a call on your life that has sustained you till now. It is your responsibility to go to God who has called and unearth the purpose behind the call. It is then you can truly start to live. You owe God and your generation not to leave earth without depositing God's investments in you back into your generation. Heaven is the destination, not the approval of any man, no matter how connected or prosperous. His time of favour is here.