“Come, follow me,”
Jesus said, “and I will send you to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)
Welcome back to our DT.
I understand that reading might not be the most exciting thing for some of us, moreover, all of us are engaged in various works and daily routines as such our DT reading
will be simple and minimal. Even so, I would sincerely urge you all to have a personal reflection on the themes we are covering in our DT reading.
Reading-II: Learning Objectives:
- God’s
Sovereignty
- You are called
- Choice to make
- God will mold you
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
Before we look at God's call, I think it is
extremely important for us to understand the Sovereignty of God. And since
failing to understand and acknowledging God’s Sovereignty we may not be able
to understand His calling.
God is eternal, God is perfect, God is
all-knowing, God is all-benevolent, God is all-powerful, etc. these are the
attributes of God. And if these attributes of God are true, it is logical that
God knows everything about us before we come into existence. Yes, we existed in
the mind of God prior to our existence. We learned this truth in the Bible, “Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you
as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). God foreknew everything about us, our past, present, and future. The
knowledge of God is beyond our comprehension and no human can understand the
fullness of His wisdom and plans. He is the Almighty God, perfect in all His
ways and doing.
A faithful servant of God by the name Derek defined God's Sovereignty as, “God does what He wants, when He wants,
how He wants, and He takes no one’s permission and nothing outside of Him can
overrule His doing." This is a grand definition of who God is and His
sovereignty. And since God is all perfect, all-knowing, and all-loving whatever
He does is good. Everything He does is perfect and we can trust all His
doing.
It was in His sovereignty, God called out Abraham from the land of idolaters and made a convent and promised to bless him and make him into a great nation. In His great wisdom, God did what He want, how He want, when He want, and He took no one’s permission. “The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing… and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3). This promise of God was later fulfilled as we read and learn in the history of Isreal.
God is calling
you!
YOU ARE CALLED
God made us and loves us. He is gracious and He
calls everyone like He called Abraham. God called Moses when he was in
the wilderness tending sheep. God called Peter when he was fishing. God called
Paul when he was riding a horse on his way to Damascus. God calls people in
various ways and times. He has called you!
The word CALL is used in the
Bible when God calls people to Himself. Yet God never forces anyone to His Kingdom
nor does He drags or lures people to Himself. He calls! Two alternative words
that express the same meaning are INVITATION and SUMMON.
The Bible tells us that we are all made in the
image of God, we are His creation, and we are made for His glory. As such
regardless of what we did in the past, the kind of person we are at present, in
His sovereignty God still calls us to Himself.
A faithful Bible teacher once said, "The
point at which God confronts us with His call is the most significant moment in
our life. Our whole destiny for time and eternity will be determined by the way
you and I respond to His call." God called me in the year 2005 when I was
attending a Youth Bible Camp and from that point on there was no turning back.
Of course, after I responded to God and gave my life to Him, I have sinned and
disobeyed Him countless times and I have repented countless times too. When I
examine my own life, time and again the words of Prophet Jonah ring in my mind,
“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and
abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2). Indeed
we are created and called by Grace for Grace.
Do you know that you are called too? Not because
of who you are but because of who God is and in His Sovereignty and Grace. Have
you sincerely responded to God’s calling? I hope and pray you have done so.
I think it is also extremely important for us to
remember the words of our Lord Jesus at this point: “Many are called, but few
are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14). “Our whole destiny for time and eternity will be
determined by the way you and I respond to His call."
God has called you!
QUALIFIED AND
DISQUALIFIED: A DIFFERENT STORY
Suppose you apply for a teaching job in a school
or university, and if the head of the school calls you or invites you to be a teacher,
he calls you probably because you are qualified, trained, or experienced. The
story is different when it comes to God’s calling or invitation. We are called
to become God’s own, God’s children, God’s servant, etc., but none of us are
qualified for His invitation. We are all disqualified people in the sight of
God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
And God calls no one on the basis of their family, race, skin color, job,
qualification, etc. That is why His call is a call of Grace. God calls us all
because He loves us and He is gracious. And in His sovereignty, God calls us to
Himself.
Abraham was never qualified for God’s calling on
the basis of his own goodness. It was God’s Sovereignty and Grace. He was
called to be blessed. Abraham trusted God, he left his country, his people, his
father’s household, to the land unknown to him. Abraham responded well.
God has called you!
CHOICE TO MAKE
We have learned what the Sovereignty of God is;
that God takes no one’s permission; that nothing outside of God can overrule
His doing. What God opens no one will shut, and what God shuts, no one can open (cf.
Rev. 3:7). And yet God never forces or drags anyone to Himself and to His
kingdom. That is why C.S Lewis said, “There are only two kinds of people in the
end: Those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in
the end, “Thy will be done.” God calls, God invites, and we are to make a
choice.
God calls us first and we have to respond. The choice is either to accept or to reject His Call, His Will, His Way, and His Word. "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9); “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19). And this choice will make all the difference in this life and the life to come. Are we serious about His calling and our decision?
God has called you!
HE WILL MOLD US
To the believers in Philippi, Apostle Paul
writes, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will
continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus
returns” Philippians 1:6 (NLT). God calls us, and if you and I respond and make
a choice to follow Him, He will do His work in molding and shaping us to the likeness of His Son Jesus, for His glory and good plans (cf. Jeremiah 29:11).
In our previous reading (1), I mentioned about
growing in our relationship with Christ (growing in the likeness of
Christ/becoming mature in our Christian faith and walk) requires obedience to His
Word. Responding to God’s call and making a choice to follow Christ is the
first step of obedience. As we learn God’s Word and put it into practice (In fact, this is
love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome (1 John
5:3), God will mold and
shape us, our inner spirits into the likeness of Christ.
You are called!
“And we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he
called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Romans
8:28-30
ASK & REFLECT:
-
Reflect on the
Sovereignty of God
-
When did God call me?
Did I respond to God’s calling as I should?
-
Why did God call me?
-
Am I following Jesus,
His Ways, His Words, and His Will?
-
Am I a serious disciple
of Jesus?
- Prayer of thanksgiving for God’s Sovereignty and Grace
- Prayer to take discipleship seriously
- Pray for all the 43 souls who are doing DT-II
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