DAY THREE: THE THREE-FOLD CALL OF JESUS CHRIST

Review:

• We are not called to a position, a place, a livelihood, a category, or a
  title. We are called to Jesus!
• Every believer that wants to be used by God for something significant should
  prioritize staying intimate with Christ.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because
I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My
yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Here, Jesus calls all sinners to Himself. In answering that call, sinners are
offered three things: Salvation, Discipleship and Purpose in Life and Ministry.

Look at the first sentence. What does Jesus say He will give to the weary and
burdened who respond to His call? He offers rest. The rest that Jesus offers is
the eternal freedom of salvation.

Look at the next sentence. What does Jesus ask of those who answer His call?
He tells them to take His yoke upon them and learn from Him. In other words, He
promises to guide them and offers them the opportunity to become disciples.

In the last sentence, Jesus promises that His yoke is easy and His burden
light. A yoke is a neck harness worn by plow animals. Jesus’ use of this term to
describe a life spent with Him implies that a life of purpose through service
and ministry automatically follows an answer to His call.

The three-fold calling of Christ must be viewed as such. Christianity
is more than the assurance of heaven through salvation, more than the promise of
a personal relationship with Christ, and more than a life of fulfilling
servitude and surrender. It is all three. Though we may not fully understand
the magnitude of God’s gift to us through Jesus Christ and the responsibilities
that come with it when we accept Christ, all of it is ours at salvation.

In religious circles, we often talk about calling, hearing God’s call or the
call of God when referring to the setting apart of a believer for some type of
“special service.” “Special service” is a phrase that we often use to describe
ministry. Many believers who begin to fully understand God’s call on their lives
do so after having been a believer for a length of time. The believer begins to
understand the need for total surrender to God’s leadership and commits
himself/herself fully to God for use in His Kingdom.

This is the point when many such believers feel a need to make their
commitment or surrendering to God’s will for their lives public, affording them
the accountability before man to remain faithful and the support of other
believers to encourage them. They understand that God’s plan for them involves
service and that it is indeed special, something more than they have experienced
before; so, when we present them to their church congregation, we say they have
surrendered to ministry or special service, both accurate descriptions of what
has happened in the believer’s heart.

However, not all believers who reach this awareness of God’s call on their
lives choose to make their decision public, for whatever reason. Because of
this, church members witness fewer public commitments to ministry or special
service than they do salvation decisions, causing some to believe that a call to
ministry:

• is somehow separate from the call of salvation,
• is issued at a point in time that follows salvation,
• is something that only a select few believers receive, not only setting them
  apart, but somehow setting them above other believers.

Matthew 11:25-30

Take a few moments and write your thoughts, concerns, and questions in your
journal. Allow the following thought suggestions to guide you.

What thoughts, feelings or questions come to mind when you consider Jesus’
call as three-fold?

How does it feel knowing that you are awakening to all that Jesus had in mind
when He called you?

What is God teaching you about calling?