Have you ever spent time waiting to be called? Did I make the team? Is “he” or “she” going to call? Did I get into the college of my dreams? I’ll never forget the hours of sitting by the phone, yes, a real landline attached to a wall, waiting for a call from the Forest Home Jr. High Summer Staff Director. The waiting was agonizing! I just longed for one call confirming whether or not I got the job. These human experiences of being called require hope, expectation, and maybe even a willingness to be disappointed. Each also largely depends on our experience, expertise, and human earning.
A very different kind of calling, a calling of invitation, occurs in Acts 17 as Paul addresses the Areopagus. He has a message for the people of Athens: their time of ignorance is over, repent, they are being called! Verse 30 says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” God Almighty was calling Gentiles into a personal relationship with him! The Mystery of Jesus Christ was being revealed! What a glorious moment that must have been for those who had eyes to see!
Author Os Guinness says, “Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service.” That kind of loving, devoted relationship is God’s deepest longing for his beloved creation. He is saying come to me, repent, and let me show you a better way.
At the end of Acts 17, some did repent and fell into the strong and loving arms of their gracious and compassionate Lord. Yet sadly, some mocked, denying the power of forgiveness that comes from a perfect God.
Have you heard the call of God in your life? Are you willing to repent, trust and follow? Salvation doesn’t require experience, expertise or earning. Calling comes through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as he reaches out and invites you into a personal relationship with him. Are you ready to answer the call?
Lynette Fuson
Director of Care & Counseling