GOD’S CALLING IS NOT JUST A JOB ORDER

(A series in the book of Isaiah: Chapter 6)

Isaiah chapter six is exposed many times for the calling of Isaiah. It is in this chapter that you will find Isaiah’s encounter with God that followed his commission. Yes, encounter always follows commission. As natural as it is in our understanding when someone meets the redeemer of his or her soul, the mission becomes a natural outflow of the heart. Not because the person is obligated by God but rather presented by the great work to accomplish God’s mission.

In this chapter, we can also draw that God has a mission. God is into a mission for His people. Many times, we see the mission from the perspective of US doing the mission of God. What if it is not that way, what if the perspective of the mission is NOT US DOING something for God but GOD DOING SOMETHING FOR US. Because in the first place God’s mission is us. We are God’s mission. God wants to redeem us from the slavery of sin. God wants us back into the likeness of His image. This is His work every day.

The so-called calling of Isaiah is not just enlisting Isaiah to be able to do the work for God. The calling of Isaiah can be seen as how God calls each one of us. It is not first and foremost about work to do for God. The calling is not necessarily a special assignment. Like Isaiah, the calling of God is that saving relationship with Him. Yes, friends, it is first and foremost the saving relationship with God. It is not just cleansing Isaiah to fit him for the mission. It is doing the work of saving Isaiah from the ruin of sin. Notice the language used herein in Isaiah chapter 6:6-7

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it, he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin ATONED for.”

The verb atoned which is related to the noun atonement is a very important word for our salvation. The call was not just simply making him ready with skills, talents, and courage. It was an atonement of Isaiah’s sins. This is more than skills and job orders for Isaiah. What God initiated with Isaiah is a SAVING RELATIONSHIP.

Friends, most of the time we think of God’s calling as a job order. What if it is more than that? What if it is not just for you to do a work for God? What if is it is more than making you a worker of God? To God you are not just a worker, you are His precious child. When God calls, it is not only for you to work for Him but rather for you to experience that SAVING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. He wants you to experience that love that passes all understanding.

When you experience His love, when you see the beauty of His character, you’re not just doing a job order for God. What you are doing for God is loving Him back because He first loved you. Isaiah cannot just speak of God’s love, God’s assurance and hope, and God’s promised Messiah without having those personal experiences in his heart.

Friends, God is not just issuing a job order, He is calling for a saving relationship with you. You are not just a paid servant you are His precious child. He is calling you for a saving relationship with Him.

The good news with this is that He initiates the relationship, He reaches out, and He does not leave the way you are. This is the nature of His call.