Having sabbathed and slept in previous video, we are now ready to work. We’ve reflected on and rested in God’s work and now we get up to serve God in the world. But before we get to the howof working, we’ve got to ask the whatquestion. What work will I do? This is the question of calling. One of the great principles recovered at the Reformation is that everyone has a calling – not just priests or pastors. Every single person has a divine calling, a divinely appointed station and role in life.
Wrong Questions
The first question is not: “What do I want to do?” Nor “What will make me the most money?” Nor, “What will make me happy?” Nor, “What do my parents or teachers want me to do?” Nor, “What are other people doing?”
Right Questions
The first question is “Lord, what will you have me to do?” Here are questions that will help you to answer this.
1. What talents has he given you? God is not calling you to do something that he has not equipped you for. You’ll never be a carpenter if you can’t work with your hands. You’ll never be a pastor if you hate studying.
2. What desires and interests has he given you? God will sometimes call us to do something surprising, but he usually works by giving us a desire or an interest and directing that into a vocation.
3. What opportunities has he given you? Has he already given you openings to exercise your gifts and talents. If you feel called to the ministry, has your church asked you to teach Sunday school or to preach at the jail? God may call you to do something completely different to what you are doing, but he usually takes what he has already developed in you and develops it further along the same trajectory.
4. What responsibilities has he given you? If you have a wife or children then your first priority is to provide for them. If you don’t, you are worse than an infidel (1 Tim. 5:8). Does your calling provide adequately for your family? If not, you are not called to it.
5. What encouragements has he given you?Have others recognized your gifts and talents in this area? Have you had any indicators of early progress or success?
6. What rules has he given you? God has not called you to break his commandments. No Christian is called to work in morally compromising industries or in companies with morally compromising practices.
7. What advice has he given you? This is not a question we can safely answer on our own. So ask others inside and outside your family about what they think. In the multitude of counselors there is safety (Prov. 11:14).
Action: Write, Talk, Decide
Write down answers to these questions and talk them over with your Dad, your pastor, an elder, or an older successful man. Honestly and prayerfully ask God, “What will you have me to do?”
Real men hear God’s call
Discussion Questions
For this video, simply answer the seven questions raised in this lesson:
- What talents has God given you?
- What desires and interests has God given you?
- What opportunities has God given you?
- What responsibilities has God given you?
- What encouragements has God given you?
- What rules has God given you?
- What advice has God given you?
Further Reading
Three Ways to Figure out What to Do in the Light of Who You Are
Thinking About Vocation
Called to the cubicle: Regardless of where we work, we’re all in full-time ministry