“Responding To A Higher Call!”

“Responding To A Higher Calling!”(I Kgs 19:19-21).
How time flies! We just entered the seventh month of the calendar year 2024. Thank you Father for bringing us thus far.
There is this story of a poor man who won a lottery of ten million US dollars. Before going to cash the ticket he decided to burn all his old rags that could remind him of his poverty days. He set fire to the rags and stood to make sure that everything was burnt up.
After he was satisfied that everything had been burned up, that was when he remembered that the winning ticket was in a pocket of one of the burnt clothes. He became poorer than he had been.
We are told that real estate investors and gambling are high risk areas of speculators. While speculators hope for high profits within limited time, they also risk losing everything within a short time.
Generally, there is need for deep reflection before risking in any venture. Better still one must hold on to the little that one already has – even if the prospects of new engagements are quite promising.
That notwithstanding, while such caution may be necessary in the business world, the business of faith says one should invest his all for the utmost. The Lord Jesus Christ talks of abandoning all so as to follow him. We cannot carry the baggage of our past for an itinerary mission!
Long before the earthly birth of Christ patriarchs like Abram obeyed God’s call to leave family and venture to the unknown; walking by faith, but with the confidence that he who called him had a better land for him than the land of his birth.
Abram may have abandoned homeland and family, but he was still a wealthy man since he was a nomad. Nomadic life is migratory but they have particular homelands where they return to. The only difference is that for Abram homeland was now a land of no return.
A better example of leaving everything for an unknown, unseen and uncertain promising future is Elisha.
Elisha had twelve yoke of oxen which he plowed with, but as soon as Elijah put his cloak on him, he left everything. He did not just leave everything; he slaughtered the yoke of oxen, burnt the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant. “
Isn’t it Good riddance that an independent richman cooked his future and gave to people to eat, then followed somebody to become his attendant (boy boy)?
It is good riddance indeed, but that is what discipleship is all about: Forgetting all that was, considering them as rubbish in pursuit of a higher calling – intangible as it may seem!
My friend, the truth is that we may not see it, we may not grasp it, but it is more rewarding than what we already have!
Today, the LORD does not expect us to quit our jobs and vocations to follow him, but he expects us to give him time in our private moments as in prayer and the reading of his word. More than that he wants us to reflect his radiance in a world darkened by evil.
Prayer of the day and week: Holy Spirit prompt us daily to follow Christ by reflecting his love and light around us. Amen!
Welcome to a new working day and week! Have a blessed day and week! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.