Called Up Higher

Well, how-do there, friend? You come right on up here to this ol’ front porch and sit down for a lil’ spell before that ol’ screen door slaps shut like an ol’ onery mule that just remembered its opinion. The breeze is stirrin’ through the trees softer than an lil’ squirrel that’s sneakin’ off with somebody else’s acorn, and today we’re gonna be talkin’ about God’s call on a life. That subject will steady a soul quicker than a fence post sunk way down deep in red clay.

Romans 8:30 reminds us, “Moreover whom He did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” That has to mean that if God has plum called us, He sho’-nuff’ didn’t do it halfway. The same God that called also justifies and glorifies. That downright means His call is not a dusty invitation left on the kitchen table. It’s a holy summons straight from Heaven.

And that callin’ plum changes us. 2 Timothy 1:9 says He “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling.” If a person can roll around in sin happy as an ol’ pig in a mud hole, something’s wrong. When Christ truly calls a heart, sin sho’-nuff’ starts to sting like a briar in a sock. We grieve it. We fight it. We sho’-nuff’ want to be rid of it.

That’s plum why 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.” God’s call is holy. Philippians 3:14 shows it’s a high callin’, and Hebrews 3:1 shows it’s a heavenly callin’. In other words, it plum lifts our eyes above this world like an ol’ hawk risin’ up over a hayfield. It surely makes us strangers to sin and citizens of another country.

Father, thank You for calling me by Your grace and not by my works. Make my life match the call You’ve placed on me. Teach me to hate sin, love holiness, and keep my heart set on heaven. Let me walk worthy of Jesus today. In Jesus name, Amen.

Now, what do you think of that? It’s time to be easin’ on down these ol’ porch steps, friend, and carryin’ this truth with you like a bright lantern on a mighty dark path. A called life ought to be shinin’ different, hungerin’ different, and headin’ in a completely different direction. An ol’ goose plum knows when winter is comin’, and a pilgrim knows this world is not his home. So, straighten your shoulders, lift up your eyes, and go on out into this ol’ world livin’ like somebody Heaven has downright done called by name.

With joy,

Gwen