Upward Call of God
Very quickly the December holidays have come to an end, and we embark on a new year ahead – 2014. We will be going back to our daily lives where we will undoubtedly be occupied with school, work, and activities. We will be meeting many people and friends both in and outside school. And with all these, will also come challenges. Challenges that can discourage us, weaken us, or draw us away from our relationship with God.
How do I guard myself from slipping back down in my faith? How do I keep my love and relationship with the Lord strong and true? It would be to hold fast to the upward call of God.
This is a photo that I took back in the office. Bethany’s pulpit theme for Nov and Dec 2013 was “Called by God” and the name tag was from the recently concluded Youth Conference. As we return to our daily lives, I am reminded that even though we are part of the world, even though we can be surrounded on all fronts by the things of the world, we are called to be set apart, and to journey upwards in our faith in God.
One of the things that impacted me from the Youth Conference was to see God’s hand in Paul’s life and the way Paul sought to live his life thereafter. Paul grew up as a sinner, blasphemer, and an arrogant man who never lived a life that sought to please God. But Paul understood that he was saved by grace and this salvation caused his entire life to change. Paul became one of the most outstanding apostles in history. The life of Paul shows that no matter who we are or how we stand before God in the past, we too have been called upwards by the Lord, to constantly grow in our faith and to always let the Lord work in our lives that we may become better people, better children of His.
Paul wrote in Philippines 3:14,
“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
May we never lose sight of this precious goal! Let’s be challenged to live out God’s personal call to journey upwards, as we embark on a new year ahead.