You Who Are Called by Name

By: Brendan Anderson

            God has a purpose for you. You may be in a place of darkness and despair, but I want to share two pieces of scripture that give us as believers true purpose. In Isaiah 43:1 the LORD declares, “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have called you by name, you are mine.” Also in Psalm 23:4 God declares, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” This is what we are going to talk about in this post. The true meaning of the purpose that God calls us by.

Why Isaiah and Psalms:

            These two pieces of scripture highlight two very incredible people. Jacob was changed by God to be called Israel. His actual name was changed to renew his spirit and create a new man. God decided that to be called to a higher purpose, God would have to change the name of Jacob and when he did Israel became a new man after God’s own heart. In psalm 23, it is written by David who defeated Goliath. David became king because of this impossible feat of taking down the monstrous Goliath. Goliath was in the realm of 9 feet tall, and this made him an incredibly scary adversary for all of Israel. Now, David was the smallest and youngest of 8 sons and yet because he believed in God and had faith in him, he could take down the strongest warrior in all the Philistines, this is where Goliath is from. Both stories are of men who have no reason to be good and strong men, but God has called them to a much higher purpose and gives them real meaning in life.

Are These the Only Examples of a Higher Calling:

            I could do a whole study of all the accounts of what God can do in men. God used Job to overcome his peers, and death. God used Matthew as a tax collector that was hated by everyone to take up his cross and follow Jesus. We see with Noah and the account of the ark he had to build. We see with Abel when he presented his offering to God, and he found favor upon him. Every story in the Bible may be different but they all have one huge purpose and that is to serve God. Our first act as believers should always be to serve God because he gave first everything that he had and bankrupt Heaven for all of us. It’s like the story of Abraham and Isaac. God called Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son to show that Abraham feared the LORD. Now Abraham was following through with God’s plan and had planned to sacrifice his son but God stepped in and allowed Isaac to live.

Our calling (Call to Action):

            If you are to receive anything from this post it is simply this: Jesus has bestowed upon all of us royalty. It is our goal to run toward God like running toward victory. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” Run toward the Father like you are trying to win the race, and God will bring you into eternal life with him. This does not mean you can earn salvation, but it does mean to discipline yourself as to be a faithful believer and a strong steward of the word of God. Wanting victory and not death.

            So, every day, take up your cross and become stronger than the day before. Go out and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) finding new believers everywhere. Your call to action is to talk to someone about God if even for a few minutes. Let someone who does not know God hear of his goodness and love for all of us. Finally, our last post got about 10-15 views which is better than the previous. Let’s do even better on this post and see just how many people can see the word of God and want to spread it to others. Come back next week for a journey through Exodus that I’m calling “From Griping to Growing.”

Until next time God bless you and have a great day…