BECOMING RESPONSIVE TO GOD’S CALL

‘I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains.‘ (John 12:24 GNB)

Every moment, there is a call to serve the Lord – at church, at home, in your place of work, in your community, in the nation and globally. God keeps looking for the person who will advance His cause and declare His will in different parts of the earth. God is counting on you, to take a stand for Him in your generation.

To respond to God’s call:

1. YOU MUST SET ASIDE YOUR REPUTATION
As long as you are obsessed with your reputation, you cannot be used maximally of God. In Philippians 2, Paul wrote about Jesus: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross’ (Phil 2:5-8 KJV). Jesus set aside His reputation to die for sinners. Though He was the Son of God, He took up the form of man and lived humbly in service. Except you yield your common life to God, He will not use you to do uncommon things. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it but if you give it up for the sake of Christ, you will gain it.

2. FORGO YOUR RIGHTS
Service demands that we forgo our rights and own our responsibilities. Our rights are those things we feel we are entitled to. To be selfless in service, we need to forgo them. Great men always focus on their responsibilities. Being selfless enables us to focus on others and not on ourselves; it helps us to reach out to others. When you serve others, you draw the attention of God and those around you. Gordon B. Hinckley, an author wrote, “The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired. One of the great ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served.” The world does not care about the murmuring person; rather the world cares about the person who makes things happen.

3. RESPOND INSTANTANEOUSLY
The time lag between an instruction and your response is a reliable measure of the level of your obedience. Partial obedience is no obedience. It is important we do not negotiate the voice of God. Prophet Isaiah said, ‘Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me‘ (Isaiah 6:8 KJV). He did not ask questions, he responded immediately. We need to respond without hesitation, without holding back in any way, making sure our time, energy and resources are available to God.

4. RELEASE YOUR LIFE
It is when you say ‘No’ to the ‘good things of life’, that you are free to say ‘Yes’ to God. We cannot give excuses for not releasing our lives to God. In spite of the difficulties and challenges we may be facing, we need to give over our lives for God’s use. Challenges only make us better when we rise above them. Despite the persecution of the apostles, they went about spreading the Word of God. ‘…And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles…Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.‘ (Acts 8: 1,4 KJV).

We must identify the things that tie us down and remove them because the Master has need of us. We must respond to this call immediately and completely. I pray the Lord will strengthen our hearts and hands as we respond to this great call.

Have a blessed week.