Blooming where we are planted. Doing the things God has called us to do today. This is what has been on my mind lately. I desire just that – to do what He has called me to do.
I am a big vision kind of chick, though. I long in my heart to do great and noble things, to reach a world for Christ. I believe it is what God has called me to, although His definition of world and my definition of world are sometimes two very different things.
So how do we know what God has called us to do?
We talked about this in PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) just last week. Looking at Ephesians 4:1, we see Paul talking to the church at Ephesus. In chapter four, he is starting to get into the practical application. How do they live out what they know and believe?
Ephesians 4:1 says, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” It is interesting that He puts it this way. The people at Ephesus were at a point where they needed to live out what they knew, but maybe they were waiting for a calling too – that definitive moment where God tells us what He wants us to do. I have waited for that as well. But as Paul pointed out, we have already received a calling. Maybe we should be doing that?
But what is that calling? Well, Jesus lays it out very simply in Mark 12:28-31. It says, “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
We have a calling. We are supposed to love God and love others. Easy right? Mostly. He wants us to love our husbands, care for our children, help our neighbor. He wants us to do the things He has already put in our path to do.
Does He have other callings for us outside of those things? I believe He does, but I think He wants us to take care of those things first. This is where I get challenged.
I see big things and grand plans, and I get excited about what is to come. As much as God has for me down the road, sometimes He just wants me to finish the laundry. This act of obedience can be more difficult in my big-idea-world than telling the whole world about Christ. He wants to me to share with the world – the one in which He has already planted me. He wants me to love. Real love. You can check this out in another blog post.
Helen Keller has a quote that has been one of my favorite for years. She said, “I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.”
This is my challenge: do what He called me to do today. As much as I love grand and noble plans, sometimes He just wants me to finish the laundry. Love God. Love others. This is our calling.
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