One Calling
by Gregg Gibbons

"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him" (Galatians 1:15-16).

There is much said about being called to DO something …called to preach …called to minister to the poor and afflicted...called to go to Africa to do missions work, etc. Was Paul called to preach to the Gentiles? Was Paul called to be a missionary? Was Paul called to be used by the Holy Spirit to reveal Scriptures?

I proclaim no.

There is one, fundamental calling of all of God's children. God calls each of us through His grace (not through our abilities or our willingness or our through anything we can do to deserve anything from God), for one reason, and one reason only:

for God to reveal his Son in ME!

God calls each of us to reveal the life of Christ in us. However, it is not Christ in me in the sense that I am a separate vessel, but in the very essence of who I am, in my inner man. Christ is my very life (Colossians 3:3). Christ is not a separate helper or a separate power -- Christ is my source of everything I am and do, my all in all (Acts 17:25).

Now, once Christ was revealed in Paul, Paul was indeed led and enabled to preach Him (not about Him). And Paul was indeed led to be a missionary, and he was indeed used by the Holy Spirit to reveal Scripture. But all of Paul's ministering was a fruit of the one call: The revelation of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27)! The focus on any other "call" could subtly tempt us to focus on the "call" itself and to work for God. Such a focus takes our focus off the one glorious call of God working in us through the precious life of Christ!

© Copyright 2003 Gregg Gibbons 
Permission granted for use LCMI - 2003 
gjeggrace@earthlink.net