Vocation

The biblical doctrine of God’s call to God’s people to become instruments of God’s purpose at work in history and to be the recipients of God’s grace and salvation. In the OT, vocation is the calling of Israel to be the people of God; and in the NT, the doctrine refers to the calling of all people to follow Christ, to become incorporated in the fellowship of the church, and to share in the Christian hope. (Via the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible)

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Deep Gladness + The World’s Hunger                                                      

It comes from the Latin vocare, to call, and means the work a man is called to by God. There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of Society, say, or the Super-ego, or Self-Interest.  By and large a good rule for finding out is this. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you’ve presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you’ve missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you’re bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only bypassed (a) but probably aren’t helping your patients much either. Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

-Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking (1973)

Reflection & Prayer

Where are you feeling stirred – in word or deed – by what you’ve read about vocation? Pray for courage to put it into action.