WHAT ARE YOU CALLED?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth:

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies him.’”

They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.

Isaiah 62:11-12

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

People have a way of attaching titles to us. Live long enough and you may have more than one in your lifetime.

It starts as soon as we are born and are given a name that identifies us, a name that we grow up hearing over and over again. But we gain more than just a name because we instantly become a son or daughter of someone and even a grandson or granddaughter, nephew or niece, or even cousin to other people we become related to. It can be a big family tree sometimes.

As we grow older, we might get married and gain the title of husband or wife. If children follow, then we add father/Dad or mother/Mom to the list of names we’re known by and when our kids grow up and into adulthood, having kids of their own, we can find ourselves called Grandpa or Grandma (or any associated titles related to being grandparents).

Now consider what happens when we work. Do we not get labeled with a title based on what we do? I know I had enough of them during a long military career as I progressed from one rank to another and gained higher positions of responsibility. In fact, once I became a Command Master Chief, people would ask me what I preferred to be called since multiple titles would have worked (CMC or Command Master Chief, or Master Chief). Think of your job and I’m sure you have at least one title that identifies your position within the organization.

Sometimes we have titles give to us based on things we have done. The United States women’s soccer team just became World Cup Champions. Mike Trout was named Most Valuable Player of the Major League Baseball All Start Game. A son of a retired pastor I know was just selected to be the Senior Executive Director of High Schools for a local school district. Many high school seniors were named valedictorians for their classes based on academic achievement. The list goes on and on but we often earn our way to different titles based on various successes.

We’ve even placed titles on people within the church, right? The top leader of a church is identified as Pastor or Minister or Bishop or Reverend. Those who help in leading and serving the congregations may be called Elders or Deacons or Deaconesses or Stewards. And then there are various Director titles such as Education or Music.

One can’t argue that we aren’t called many things through the course of our lives.

As we look at our scripture passage for today, we find yet any other way we need to look at titles we are given. For as we will see, the Lord God Almighty has a way of labeling us as well and it’s that identity that we should be most focused on. Look at these closing verses from Isaiah 62:

The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth:

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies him.’”

They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.  Isaiah 62:11-12

Note here that the Lord is proclaiming the new identity of His people to the ends of the earth, informing everyone that those who were once under His judgment were now being restored to His favor. Deliverance was dawning, born from the saving grace of the Father, and the Israelites who were once abandoned and forsaken were now referred to as Holy and Redeemed, Sought After and No Longer Deserted. Better days were ahead for God’s people as He prepared the way for their liberation and restoration back to their homeland of Judah and Jerusalem.

So what does this have to do with us today? How can we apply this to the way we are living in the 21st century?

The answer comes by considering the titles God might place on you today. In other words, when God looks at you and your life, “What would He call you?”

There are really only two options here.

First, if you have rejected God and His salvation offer through His Son Jesus, choosing instead to live solely for your desires and the desires of the world, you could be called Damned, Lost, Doomed, Wicked, Condemned, and/or Hopeless. You will have no life beyond the one you now live and death is the end.

But for those in the other category, those who believe and trust in Jesus as God’s only Son who was given up by God as a living sacrifice to pay the price for the sins of the world, they will be called Saved, Forgiven, Sanctified, Delivered, and/or Hopeful. Their future is secured as they live in and through and with God and Jesus in this life and the everlasting life to come.

I don’t know about you but I give thanks every day that I can be counted amongst those who placed their full hope and faith in Jesus as Savior. For I have nothing to fear in this world and everything to look forward to no matter what this life brings.

One day when Jesus returns, He will call for me because He will know me and it will be the best calling ever. I’ll pray you’ll be called with me.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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