The Heavenly Calling

     I believe hidden deep inside each of us is the inherent need to be connected to our Creator.  We want to know that we have significance and purpose in this life.  We need to know that someone out there is in control even in the midst of all the chaos, and that we can connect with that stability and peace, and make sense of our lives.  I began my quest for answers to that inner need when I was twelve years old.  This blog is one of the ways I will be sharing what God has revealed to me over the past thirty-plus years regarding that deep inner connection with Him, and how we can experience it.

     Most times when we talk about a "calling" we're thinking in terms of vocation, or life-career; work that a person is innately drawn to and talented for.  It usually carries with it a sense of purpose and significance for the one called.  Well, that's not what I'm referring to in "our heavenly calling".  As good, and yet elusive for most of us, as that kind of calling is, what I'm going to be sharing about is MUCH MORE significant, lasting and satisfying.

  The Call to Connect

     Put simply, "OUR HEAVENLY CALLING" is God's invitation to come into relationship with Him and know Him.  For a slightly more theological definition, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon says the heavenly calling is: the invitation to receive salvation in the Kingdom of God, or eternal life.  Jesus Christ, the One who made the calling, or invitation, available to everyone said, "This is eternal life, that they would KNOW YOU, the ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, whom you have sent". (John 17:3)  Pretty simple, and downright awesome!  The Creator of the universe invites us to be in relationship with Him, to truly know Him!

     The reference in the Bible to the "heavenly calling" is Hebrews 3:1.  The Apostle Paul addresses the people he's writing to as "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling".  So, receiving and partaking of the heavenly calling into a relationship with God and Jesus Christ means we are HOLY and part of the heavenly family, brothers and sisters with others who accept the invitation.  This heavenly, deep inner connection is what gives us true purpose and significance, and the peace and understanding through life's difficult and confusing circumstances.

     Incidentally, once you come into relationship with God and discover your true purpose and significance, a vocational, or career calling often follows.  I'll share next how I came to know God and some of the significance that knowing Him makes.