Last night I started to get sick, so today I decided to stay back from ministry and take a day to rest and recover. During my day of rest I decided to watch The Book of Eli. It is about life after a war that destroys most of the world. The war was about the bible (it never went into more detail), so after the war all but one of the Bibles were destroyed. It was then one man, Eli’s, calling to save the book for the future of the world.
During this movie I couldn’t help but reflect on the power of the calling this one man had. The bible was wanted so badly that people would kill for it, but this didn’t scare Eli away from his task. This man didn’t know where he was suppose to go, other than go west, but he obeyed his calling. You can watch the movie if you want to know what happens next.
The thing that stood out to me was that this man knew what he was suppose to do and nothing was going to get in his way. He knew that it was his job to take the bible and save it and he was willing to risk his life for what he knew he had to do.
Then I began to think about my life and my calling. No I am not called to walk across barren land to save the bible, but I am called to carry the words of the bible with me wherever I go. Just like in the movie, I may be attacked. Probably not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual manner. People will not accept me, I will be persecuted, and I will be looked down upon because of my faith.
So, why is it that I do what I do? Some may view it as a unique calling to be a missionary going to other countries and working with the poor and needy. But I view it as following through with what the bible says to do. It calls people to go out and make disciples of all nations, so making disciples is what I will try to do. But just as important, the bible tells us to do for others more than you do for yourself. The bible calls us to be unselfish. It calls us to reach out to the brokenhearted and the needy.
A quote from the movie:
I know what I have heard. I know what I hear. I know I’m not Crazy. I know I would have never made it without help.
This quote hit me hard. Why am I at where I am? Why do I do the things I do? How am I here? The answers to all of these questions are because I know what I have heard. I know what I hear. I know I am not crazy, even though many people think I am, and I know I would have never made it to where I am without Gods help.
If it would have been up to me, I would have stayed home in Wisconsin. I would have found a job where I could make a lot of money and would have lived a comfortable and luxurious life.
The truth is that I am where I am because I felt a calling. I never in my life wanted to give up the comforts at home to be in a bunch of foreign places. I didn’t want to live on a concrete floor and eat foods that would give me diarrhea. Even though I never wanted to do these things, when I became a Christian things changed for me. The spirit of God changed the desires of my heart. This was definitely not an overnight process and I fought back for a long time because I wanted to take care of me and my life. There were so many things I wanted to do. There were so many things that I was going to accomplish. But, God made it known to me that he had something bigger for me. He has called me to do more for others than I do for myself. He has called me to give up control and let Him lead. I have chosen to follow. I have chosen to follow because he is my father. He brought this world into existence. He brought me into existence. He died on the cross to forgive me of all of my past sins and future sins. He wants me to live the life he has laid out for me. I have responded with I WILL FOLLOW.
I will love others, because I have been loved.
I will feed others, because I have been fed.
I will help others, because I have been helped.
I will show grace, because grace has been given to me.
I do these things not to receive glory. I do these things because they are what make me happy and bring me joy.
James 1:21-25
Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and preservers, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
When I look in the mirror I can proudly say I see me, but more importantly I see the Holy Spirit at work inside of me. When I turn from the mirror I can remember what I look like, because I am a hearer who doesn’t forget, but acts. Just like Eli from the movie, I am following my calling and having confidence in everything that I do. I can have that confidence because I know that the lord is always with me and is blessing me.
