1 Samuel 3: A Holy Calling

What is a calling? When God calls someone he gives them a task to fulfill or a position in which to serve. It is not something that we earn, or have the potential to fulfill it by ourselves. Rather, God appoints us and gives us the ability, strength and wisdom to fulfill his purposes.

God called Samuel to lead Israel through its transition into a monarchy. God had not called a leader such as Samuel since Joshua. Something great his coming and Israel will need a Godly prophet to lead them through this change. Unlike the judges, Samuel is known throughout all of Israel (v. 20), meaning all of Israel is to be transformed into something new. God always uses prophets when he leads Israel through major redemptive changes. Moses, the great prophet for Israel, lead the nation out of bondage from Egypt. Now Samuel will lead Israel out of its spiritual anarchy into a godly kingdom. But this goal was never fully inaugurated, because the monarchy failed with its poor kings.

The kingdom that Samuel was called to build came under the work of a greater prophet—Jesus Christ. We don’t typically think of Christ as a prophet, but he was greater than the prophet Moses. Prophets represented God to humanity just as the incarnated Christ being God himself represents God to us. Put simply Christ reveals God’s truth to us that through Christ God has redeemed a people for himself. All of Scripture points to Christ and his work.

So what are we called to? God calls us to be a holy people and to live lives worthy of Christ (Ephesians 4:1). Secondly, we are called to serve one another (Galatians 5:13). But we are not just called to serve the church or those we like but to serve everyone including the entire world. We are to seek the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:4-23). We are to be a blessing to the entire world and not just in “ministry” but also as be lawyers, doctors, soldiers, accountants, plumbers and carpenters. We all have a calling through which we are to serve God in our work. It is a calling that Christ gives us strength, hope, and ability to accomplish. Let us then live our lives worthy of Christ doing whatever it is that he has called us to do, for that is a holy calling.

Posted by Aaron Miner