As always some deep and thoughtful insights from Ravi. Thoughts so far from chapter 3 “Your Calling Matters”.
He talks briefly about Pilgrim’s Progress:
He tells us with great insight how the pilgrim, Christian, attired in rags and weighed down by his burden, reaches a hill, where he encounters the cross. He is searching for the Celestial City but discovers one cannot enter the city without going by way of the cross. As he looks up at the cross, he falls to his knees and the burden falls off his back. But this is not the end of the story! He is still at the beginning of his journey. Burdens are not just lifted at the cross; some new ones are added to give direction to our call.
After Christian loses his burden of guilt and sin, three “Shining Ones” greet him. The First of these three is the Angel of the Dawn, who greets him with the words, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” The second, the Angel of the Daylight, strips him of his rags and gives him a new set of clothes. The third, the Angel of the Dusk, points the way for Christian to walk toward the gate of the Celestial City.5 This third angel puts a mark on his forehead and then gives him a scroll-a map to guide him on his way. The first angel meets his spiritual need; the second addresses his physical needs; and the third engages his intellectual needs and gives him the tools to instruct him along the journey.
The Christian’s walk involves all three areas of life-the spiritual, the practical, and the logical-which are not mutually exclusive. God is an immensely practical being who also guides us with reason and wisdom. Let us see how the threads of your hopes, your dreams, and your calling come into place spiritually, practically, and intellectually.
Also on God’s calling of us based on who we are:
In specific moments in history, God has raised up particular individuals with a momentous call, people such as the pharaoh of the exodus, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Esther, Paul, and many others. And though we may not know the names of many, many more, their callings are just as certain and needed. That truth is what I want us to consider and ponder. If my very ethnicity and my disappointments make up part of God’s pattern for my life, then it stands to reason that so does my calling before him. He has intricately woven together my hopes, my dreams, and my vocation. God’s plan for each one of us includes the way he has wired our thinking and has prepared whatever it is in our lives that will bring us fulfillment.
On prayer:
I do not believe that one can earnestly seek and find the priceless treasure of Gods call without a devout prayer life. Each of us is the temple of the Lord, and it was the Lord who said, “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7). That is where God speaks. The purpose of prayer and of God’s call in your life is not to make you number one in the world’s eyes, but to make him number one in your life. His calling is perfect, and he has a specific place for each one. Every member of the body has a particular role, and we find our fulfillment in filling that role.
And the chapter conclusion:
Know that you are God’s temple. Bathe your life in prayer. Live out your life in humility of spirit that serves for the right reasons. Seek the counsel and example of godly men and women. Finally, exhibit a commitment of a call. Self-glory, power, sensuality, and the seduction of material gain impede such a call.
Lots of great insight from Ravi. Typically I am a voracious reader and can blaze through books quickly, but this one is taking me time. Not a bad thing.