I know…that’s a strange title, isn’t it!  But I want to explain its origin and what it means.  Today, I need to share personally, so please bear with me!

Have you ever just absolutely known for certain that the Lord was drawing you into a quiet place with Him?  He had something to say, and you wanted desperately to hear?  Such has been my journey in the few days leading up to New Year’s Day.

I am a goal-setter and a budget-maker, so those things annually occupy my focus as I head into a new year.  However, the still small voice that I long to hear drew me away from that this time, and January 1 was reduced solely to prayer and study time for me.

As I followed the Lord’s lead in prayer and study, a common thread resonated:  it is more important to commit to the Caller than to the Calling!

Every follower of Christ is called to a life of service and obedience to Him.  It looks different for each person, and no one’s calling is higher than another.  However, I am reminded of the waywardness of committing more to a calling than to the Caller Himself!

That point was driven home by Anne Graham Lotz as I joined her (and thousands of people around the world!) for “Preprayer 2016.”    Her prayer was published (and even recorded), and in one simple sentence the Lord caused me to slam on the brakes to meditate:

Like Ezra of old, stir their [Bible teachers] hearts to be devoted to You first, then to the study and the preaching of Your Word.

Granted, not everyone is called to teach, but the principle is the same: we must be committed first to the Caller, then to the calling!

So, that is my personal mission as the new year begins, and I encourage you, too, to be faithful to the Caller.  John 6 goes on to describe Jesus as the Bread of Life…all that we need.  When we are drawing sustenance from Him, the result is:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
~John 14:12

Do you believe in Him?  Are you committed first and foremost to Him who calls you?  If so, get ready to do the “greater works” He has in store for you!

Shabbat Shalom!