What Is My Calling?
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Key Verse: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Selected Scripture: |
PEOPLE OF ALL AGES may question their ultimate goals and purpose for being. How and where does one find clear direction for their life? In exploring that question, Christians must also ask, What is my vocation—what is God calling me to do and to be? Jesus provided an example when he declared his calling to be a ministry of compassion to those who live in poverty, in bondage, in oppression, and with disabilities. His teachings should help us to see the importance of having sympathy for others who are suffering, and will lead us to look for ways to be of service.
The Lord Jesus had been divinely commissioned by the power of God to fulfill the Gospel message, which would bring “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2:10) As stated earlier in our verse, Luke 4:18, Jesus is declaring to us his call to ministry, and is applying the words that he read in the synagogue at Nazareth, on the Sabbath Day, to himself. Turning to the prophecy from which this quotation is taken, we read there, “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” (Isa. 61:1) Jesus was thus anointed to complete his work when, at 30 years of age, he had reached the perfection of manhood, having presented himself to the Father a living sacrifice. He was baptized by John at Jordan, and it was because of this anointing of Jesus, that he bore record, saying, “I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34) In the same sense, we read again, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” (Isa. 11:2) Similarly, the same Spirit in Christ is referred to as the ‘Spirit of Christ,’ ‘the mind of Christ’—“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”—Phil. 2:5
What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? It implies that we are to be teachable, loving, kind, considerate, and humble. To be humble-minded will help us to learn more about our loving Heavenly Father, and of his will in our lives. (John 4:34; 5:30) We should then be prepared to focus our minds on doing the best that we can each day to live a life which is pleasing to him. One of the qualities necessary for us to be acceptable to the Father is an eager desire to please him. Just as our dear Lord Jesus did in his life, our calling is to do the will of God. It is for us to follow the leadings of the Lord, and to accept them. Our strong desire should also be to work at having the character-likeness of our Master. “Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you.”—Col. 3:16
We further see from our lesson that Jesus was compassionate, and demonstrated sympathy toward others. This was shown on many occasions, such as is recorded in the verse, “When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them.” (Matt. 9:36) Jesus was moved to sacrifice his time and strength on behalf of others. Our attitude should be similar. We should be willing to deny self by sacrificing the flesh and its interests, and thereby participate in Jesus’ ministry of compassion.