Proof!
An online definition of 'vocation' reads as follows: 'a person's employment or main occupation, especially regarded as worthy and requiring dedication'. That is the pivot upon which today's extract is based. Paul makes it clear who he is, as well as the nature of the calling we have received from God who calls men to Himself. It is important to note that no man defines this vocation by himself; as long as I had to answer the call of God, I am obligated to respond to the call as it comes, not seek to redefine it in line with my own personal preferences. That is why it seems we struggle a lot with the call of God: we want to say YES, but we want it to be on our terms. Can I say of a truth that I have heard, and responded to the call of God on my life? Do I see what I have been called to do as a vocation, as defined above?
Until I see all my life as a vocation defined above, I will not fully grasp what is at stake here. If I do not see my faith as a full-time job, I will likely embrace compromise at some point when it is convenient to do so. If I do not see my walk with God as a vocation requiring dedication, I could be tempted to live as a part-time Christian: one who is only 'holy' on Sunday, but seeks relevance and acceptance by the world on every other day. It is also called a walk, because it will demand that I move into the world so I can affect it for good. No man ever made an impact sitting on his hands and moping; change comes when I know who I am in God and I take steps to make him known. I have to check my current walking and living: are they aligned with the vocation I claim to have been called into? Remember, God cannot be deceived.
How I must walk is also defined in today's extract: all lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. All these words have a place in my vocation. Pray, how do I impact lives if I am proud and haughty, full of myself and not of God? How does God take glory from a life that He can't control or influence? How does the perfume of God's grace become evident, if the life it should flow from is full of anger, rage and bitterness? How can God's nature be revealed and appreciated in a life that has no patience, is easily irritated and cannot bear other people's weaknesses? It is easy to make claims on knowing Jesus, until life has to squeeze that which is in you out of you? When life happens to me, what flows out of me: the sweet aroma of God's grace or the stench of a life that has not been surrendered to God?
Love is also mentioned, and that should not be a surprise, as love is God's identity and nature. It was love that called me out of sin in the first place, and gave me the vocation I have been called into. It is love that keeps me on the narrow path, even when it is not convenient, and helps me to stay true and focused on God. It is love that supplies the strength and grace for all the other attributes to be birthed and sustained in me. The call of God on a man's life will demand new pursuits and priorities, and take me down a path of grace that I would not otherwise be able to take on my own. The devil knows the value of that vocation, and he will do all he can to distract and discourage. Just hold on; He who calls is faithful and able to keep that which has been committed to his care. Is your life in His care? God's time of favour is here.
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