Jesus said a lot of things recorded in the New Testament. The following two quotes throw some light on Jesus’ views on calling and points out a lesson we can learn from him.
“Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” John 4:31-34 ESV
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted a by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matt 4:1-4 NIV
Note that the will of God for a person is God’s calling for his/her life. In addition, the word that comes from the mouth of God is God’s will. Living on every word that comes from the mouth of God is the same thing as living God’s calling for your life.
Having said that, I draw the following lesson from the passage.
According to Jesus:
Living God’s calling for one’s life is more filling than food. In fact, it’s like food of a superior quality. It is soul food.
People who are living their calling often experience what some experts call the “flow” in their work. Work itself becomes a huge reward. A person feels refreshed by their work. They can’t wait to get back to it, not because of the extrinsic benefits like money but because of something intrinsic in the work itself that provides joy and benefit to the soul. A person may forget to eat when they are doing work they were called to do and so designed for.
Walking in God’s calling for our life quickens our souls and in some way keeps us in the zone where we experience the rejuvenating life force.
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