Why Did You Follow?

Over the years, people have often asked me: How did you know you were called into the ministry? 

I didn’t get a burning bush like Moses, or a heavenly vision like Isaiah. I didn’t hear the voice of the Lord booming down from heaven, “Whom shall I send?” I didn’t hear the words out loud. No. It was much more subtle. I knew I was called because I sensed something deep within – a tugging at my heart, a stirring of my soul.

But looking back, really, more important than any of that, I can see that this calling, was actually a calling that started years before. Before being called into the ordained full-time ministry, I was called first, like you, simply to follow Jesus. Which – even though I never thought about it this way – was no less a claim on my entire life.

Which is really interesting too in its own way. Because no one ever asked me how I knew I was called into the faith; how I knew I was called to follow Christ.

How did you know you were called to follow Christ?

I imagine some of you grew up in the church (like I did) and perhaps some of you felt a spark of faith from an early age (which I did not). I imagine for others of you there may have been a moment in time later in life, perhaps at the birth of a child, or the untimely death of a loved one, or perhaps a moment in worship or a moment in crisis, when you felt something deep inside you beginning to grow… A sense of more beyond. And I imagine for others of you, your sense of call to follow Christ came through the invitation of another person, (Come check out our church!), or through an act of compassion or beauty that you witnessed. 

I wonder how you knew you were called to follow Christ… 

But maybe an even more interesting question is why did you answer? And why have you continued to follow him? Today, I invite you to give these questions some thought. Perhaps take some time to journal your answers. And as you do, may your reflections become your prayer.

Let us pray: As we look back across the course of our lives, O God, we trust that you have been with us every step of the way. Give us eyes to see your hand at work. Remind us of the love, healing, peace, and transformation that we have experienced. And fill us anew with grace and hope. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.