Heeding the Upward Call
As we give thanks that God has been with us all these years, we also know that this year marks the first year since the beginning of the next forty years ahead of us. The first forty years saw the building and establishing of a strong foundation for our beloved church, Bethany. The next forty years, however, will see the next generation building on this strong foundation.
For us, our part is to heed the upward call of the Lord, to serve Him and our church – as we have been learning at Young People’s Group throughout the year:
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
– Philippians 3:13-14
Forgetting / Reaching Forward
The context of the passage is in the knowledge of Christ – “apprehended”, the sense of understanding who Jesus is. Paul humbly acknowledged that he did not know everything there was to know about God, but he did not want to live in the past, dwelling merely on the things that have happened (whether good or bad!) but instead sought to press on into the future, to reach achieve greater heights, in terms of his faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For young people, this principle of forgetting the past (which is certainly not the same as not taking time to appreciate and give thanks to God for what He has done for us!) is also a useful one for us to remember. I’m reminded that we cannot take for granted the things that we have received at Bethany, but at the same time, these things cannot allow us to feel complacent or to mistakenly believe that we have already reached our goal and we do not need to push forward with greater zeal and urgency.
There is much yet to do, there are new needs that we need to look into. Our world continues to change around us, the people around us will also have changing needs as time goes by. We will need to be extremely sensitive to the Lord’s leading amidst all these things, and to reach forward, with His hand guiding us.
Pressing Toward / Heeding the Call
Paul wrote that God had called him to higher things – His call was an upward one, and therefore he worked towards this, ‘pressing towards the goal’. This call can be seen as an individual calling, to be saved, but it is also more – it is a calling for a community, for various individuals to serve God together.
On my part, this year I have felt on my heart, the need for me to develop a greater sensitivity to seeing what needs there are to be met in Bethany. As the years go by, it is no longer enough that I should be a recipient of what has been done. It is no longer enough that I simply do the things I’m asked to do. Someone who truly has a servant’s heart would always be thinking of how he can serve the Lord better, and always looking out for ways to serve. I admit this is not a natural instinct in me – it is much easier to sit back and wait to be asked to do things – but as part of the next generation who is meant to care for the church, it is necessary. There is so much at stake – the Lord’s house, His work, His people. We must now, therefore, arise!