Calling of Prophets / 
Calls in the New Testament

What do we mean by your calling? Let me give you an operating definition of calling in terms of God's kingdom agenda.

Your calling is the divine mission to which God has ordained you and that He has burned into your heart and equipped you to accomplish to bring Him glory and to advance His kingdom.

You may want to review that definition a time or two before reading on. It's not complicated, but it is foundational to everything we are going to talk about in this chapter.

Divine calling always has to do with God's glory, with fulfilling His kingdom agenda. That means if you and I are not advancing God's kingdom and bringing Him glory, we have not yet found our calling. Let's look at several aspects of a calling that will help to flesh out this definition.

A Customized Calling

First, God's calling in your life is customized. It is uniquely designed to help you reflect God's purpose for your life. This is why everyone must "work out" his or her own salvation (see Philippians 2:12).

This means that wanting to be like somebody else is not your calling. God only has one of you. If He wanted you to copy someone else, He would have made you that person's identical twin. God has customized His calling for your life so that when you come to the end, you can say you have finished the work God gave you to do (see John 17:4).

If you find your calling—or better yet, if your calling finds you—you never have to worry about death. When it comes time to die, you'll be ready because you have finished the work God left you here to do. It is only when you have not finished your work that you are not ready to die.

More Than Your Job

Here's another basic principle about your calling. It is more than your job or career. It may include your job, but your calling is not totally synonymous with your job. That's because your calling also includes other areas, such as your marriage and your family, that don't come under the heading of employment. Yet your employment should assist you in fulfilling aspects of your calling.

Paul was a tentmaker, yet his calling was to preach the Word. God may allow you to have a job that fulfills your calling—and in fact, it should. But your calling is more than your job; it is everything that God has in mind for you to bring Him glory and expand His kingdom.

Adam illustrates what I mean. God told him to have dominion over the rest of creation. That was his calling. We can assume that Adam did a number of specific tasks to fulfill that calling, such as tending the garden and naming the animals.

Anthony T. Evans, The Kingdom Agenda: What a Way to Live! (WORDsearch, 2006), 126–128.