12/12/2020
Do we think that we choose God of our own accord, and that He has no say in our coming to Him? Do we think that we can know Jesus Christ and confess Him to be our Savior without being given to Him first by His Father? No - when we are told to “seek and you will find”, we are being called to Him, and following His calling we must accept, obey, and answer His voice.
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37 ESV
So god calls us, and if we accept His invitation, and embrace Him in love, then He introduces us to Jesus Christ, and we must once again accept God’s will for us... we must choose to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. In that moment we are given over to Jesus, and become His... never to be lost.
“This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.””
John 18:9 ESV
Thomas Goodwin, an English Puritan Theologian who lived in the 1600s, wrote of our calling to faith in a wonderful way, let’s read his words...
“When you believed, God the Father rose up in heaven , as I may so express it, and said: “Son, yonder is a soul which I have given you from everlasting, which you died upon the cross for; now is the fullness of time for you to have mercy upon him; go take him and own him for your own, and now actually possess him. The Father likewise whispers to the heart of the sinner and woos him to come to Christ.” - Thomas Goodwin, ‘Justifying Faith’
Once we have come to know God, we struggle to understand whether we sought Him out, or He first called to us, but scripture is clear that although we might know of Him in some way, God sees our heart, and if we are meant to be His... He calls us by name. Sometimes in a small still voice, barely discernible, while in other instances by standing by our bedside, snd calling with a loud voice...
“And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.””
1 Samuel 3:8-10 ESV
I would like to tell you about two dogs I have owned in my life. The first was a beautiful Dalmatian puppy. When my parents brought him home he was his own dog, and when I would feed him in the evening he would snap at my hand if I tried to reach for his bowl. It took a while, and some correction, but eventually he came to trust me and I could not only give and take his food from him without him snipping or growling, but he would follow me to bed and lay right beside me. He was my dog, coming whenever I called his name, and doing whatever I asked.
The second dog was given to me by the trainer at a game preserve, she was a gorgeous English Setter that was about to be put down because she was afraid of gunshots, and wouldn’t hunt. I went to her kennel to retrieve her but she was very hand shy, so I put a leash on her and placed her in my car. She cowered in my lap, and when we arrived home I put her in a room I had prepared for her. Day after day I fed her, and showered her with affection. Even though my yard was fenced I walked her on a leash for weeks. Finally I felt that she had bonded with me, and had come to love me as much as I loved her. So I took her into the yard and released her from the leash. For a moment I thought all was well, when suddenly she bolted to the bottom of the yard, scaled the chain link fence and was gone. I looked for her everywhere without success, and did so for months and years... but to no avail. I had offered her a wonderful new life, but she hadn’t accepted my offer.
When I look at God calling us to Him, and a faith in Christ, I notice that we are a lot like these two dogs, in both cases I loved them without reservation, but they had a choice to make regarding whether they would come to love me back, and obey me. When God loves us it is much like my love for these dogs... He loves each of us before we have decided to love Him, even while we are sinners, and like my dogs were with me, we must choose to love God back and answer His call, or we can reject Him. The first decision, and calling, is His, but ultimately we must choose to answer “speak for your servant hears.”... or to turn from Him.
So, once we have obediently answered God’s call then something else wonderful occurs; we are given over to Jesus. If we choose to recognize Him, and accept Him as our savior, then He will never cast us out; we are His forever. He washes away our sins with the blood He shed on Calvary, and we begin our walk with Him to our Father’s kingdom, where we will take our seat at His table... are we ready to answer the call? Are we ready to yield ourselves to God, and be given over to Jesus Christ? If so then we certainly realize that faith is a gift to us, and that we owe all the glory, and the eternal life that springs forth from it, to God as He pours His grace upon us.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for knowing my heart, and seeing the need my soul has for you, and your son Jesus. Thank you Lord for calling me to you, and for preparing me to answer “Here am I”, as I come to you. Thank you for the faith it took to pick up my cross and to follow Jesus as He leads me to righteousness. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loved us while we were yet sinners, and gave your only begotten son to redeem us. Praised be your name for the moment each of us first heard you voice calling to us. Merciful are you to be willing to call us not once, but twice, three times, and a fourth. You are patient, and long suffering Father, and will wait even until our final breath if it takes such to hear us answer you, and give ourselves into your hands, and the arms of Jesus. In that moment when we call you Father, and Jesus Lord, then dip us into the living water that runs through the New Jerusalem, and call us your eternal children.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
Revelation 3:20-21 ESV
Rich Forbes