Fulfilling Our Calling

Spirit-filled service is a service that fulfils God's specific calling. In Colossians 1:23, 25, Paul says, " I am made a minister;" and in 1 Timothy 2:7, " I am ordained an apostle " - ordained by the nail pierced Hands of Jesus, and not by any earthly ritual. God called Paul to be an apostle. This calling was given to him, as he himself says in Colossians 1:25. It was God's gift - not something that he had achieved or earned through his faithfulness. He also says in the same verse that this calling was given him for others. It was a stewardship entrusted to him by God for the work of building up the Church.

God has a specific calling for each of us. It is futile to ask God to make us into something that He has not called us to be - for the Holy Spirit decides what gift each of us should have. Paul was called to be an apostle. But not everyone has such a calling. What we do need to seek God's face about is for power to do that to which he has called us. " Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfil it," was Paul's advice to Archippus (Col. 4:17).

God does not put square pegs into round holes. He knows what His Church needs at a particular time in a particular place, and He prepares each of us, (if we are submissive) for a specific task - which may be quite different from what we ourselves want to do. " Is everyone an apostle? Of course not. Is everyone a preacher? No. Are all teachers? Does everyone have the power to do miracles? Can everyone heal the sick? Of course not. Does God give all of us the ability to speak in languages we've never learned (tongues)?...No " (1 Cor. 12:29, 30-LB). But God has placed each of these gifts in the Body of Christ. The important thing for us to recognise what our gift and calling are and to exercise that gift and fulfil that calling. Spirit-filled service is service that fulfils that specific calling which God gives us.

If there is one gift that the New Testament specifically encourages us to seek, it is the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 14:39). This is perhaps the most needed gift in the church today. A prophetic ministry is one that rebukes, corrects, challenges, enlightens, encourages and builds-up (1 Cor. 14:3). We need to pray that God will give us prophets in our churches, who will speak the truth of God, without fear or favour - men of a different calibre from the professional religious scribes, who are more interested in their salary, status and popularity.

May the Lord help us each one to seek His face earnestly to find out what His calling is.