Before...

Jeremiah 1:4–10 (NRSV)

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

There is a commonly held conviction that “calling” applies to pastors only. I would like to break that definition. The truth of the matter is quite
different. Every human being has a vocation, has a “calling”. By baptism you have already accepted the invitation to carry out your vocation, to
carry out your “calling”. Every Christ follower is a called person. Listen to the words of Jeremiah, they apply to each of you: “before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I called you”. One of the chief tasks of an ordained person is to help people uncover and develop their calling. What is a calling? Calling is a Biblical word to describe how each person has something beautiful to do for God. Each of us has an
assignment to do that has our name written on the tag. Each of us has a song to sing, a message to deliver, a special gift of love to offer that no one else can offer. This is what Jeremiah could mean when he says that “even while I was in my mother’s womb you formed me, you called me.”

You have something beautiful to do for God, I wonder what it could be?