“And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” – Exodus 19:6

When God graciously chose Israel to be His people, it was for a great and wonderful purpose! They weren’t just the fortunate beneficiaries of great blessing. They were to be holy, set apart among all nations and fully devoted to the Lord. This was so they could be priests for a world separated from its Creator. They were to represent God to all the nations of the earth and represent all the nations to God. Israel was chosen to be part of God’s eternal plan to bring blessing and redemption to every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Now that glorious purpose and responsibility lies upon everyone who believes in Jesus (1 Peter 2:9). If you’re a Christian, then you’ve been blessed and redeemed so that you may live a holy life, devoted to God’s great purpose. You are a priest with the responsibility of representing God to those you encounter in your daily life and to introduce them to Him by sharing your hope in Christ.

As Christians, we have such a beautiful responsibility: making disciples of all nations, ethnicities, and languages. This task belongs to every Christian: school children, college students, office workers, factory workers, gig workers, stay at home parents, tradesmen, travelers, retirees, seniors…

In light of this call, are you living as a holy citizen of a holy people? Are you serving as God’s priest everywhere you go?

“And the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’” – Exodus 16:3

Is there anything more quintessentially human than to grumble, complain, and doubt God’s goodness as He leads us on the uncomfortable journey from a problematic past to glorious future? Israel had been living in brutal, oppressive, and bloody slavery in Egypt. God had worked astonishing miracles before their very eyes to lead them to freedom from the mightiest nation on earth.

However, between slavery and the promised land was a time of deep uncertainty. The desert. Where would they find food and water? Was it even safe to be there? In between slavery and the promised land was the uncomfortable desert of utter dependence on God. They couldn’t provide for themselves. They didn’t understand how God would provide for them. Rather than trusting God, they trusted their reason and doubted God’s goodness, dreaming of going backward to the familiar.

In the desert between slavery and the promised land, the people forgot the horrors of the past and remembered only the good parts. We often do the same today. Sure, their children were killed and they had to work as slaves making bricks. But they knew where their next meal was coming from!

Any time God’s people are being led from a problematic past to an exciting future, there will be a desert of doubt, a place of discomfort and absolute dependence on God. Like the Israelites, we often hate being in that place! We, too, struggle to trust God’s sovereign, wise, and good leadership. We, too, forget the bad parts of the past and dream of turning back the clock. However, that isn’t the way forward into God’s glorious future!

The people of God have no choice but to be dependent on Him! We must trust Him. We must believe in His wisdom and His goodness. We must resist the temptations to glorify a flawed past while dreaming about returning to it. We must walk forward toward the future God has in store, confident of how everything will ultimately turn out in God’s timing!

“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” – Acts 16:9

As Christians, we can have several different reactions to this story of Paul’s call to take the Gospel into Europe. Commonly we celebrate it and think, “That’s awesome!” It’s also common to think, “I wish God would speak to me like that.” Indeed, some Christians will use their lack of a specific “Macedonian Call” as an excuse to remain less than fully engaged in following Jesus. They reason that, “If God wants me to do something big, He’ll tell me.”

There’s something very important every Christian must understand about this story, particularly if we’ve ever given in to the temptation to sit back and relax because we haven’t received a personal calling from God to serve in some capacity. Here it is: Paul was already on mission doing the work of God when he was called to Macedonia!

Paul was already doing the thing EVERY Christian has been called, commanded, and invited to do: make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching. That’s the task of every Christian, including you. Jesus gave you this work Himself (see Matthew 28:18-20). Because Paul was obedient to that task, He received a later call to go into mission work. Because Paul was obedient to that next task, He received this later call to go to Europe.

If you’re waiting for a personal invitation from God to serve Him, you’re wrong. He’s already told you what to do. Go make disciples. Once you’re doing that, you may receive further clarification about how and where. God is quite unlikely to give you further instructions until you’ve proven yourself faithful with the ones He’s already given!

“Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.”
– Psalm 25:8-9

God is good and upright. Therefore, He instructs, leads, and teaches. Please note that He doesn’t make any Christian instantly or automatically know and understand all His ways of righteousness. We must each go through a process of learning and instruction. We must humble ourselves to truly hear and follow God’s way. Then we’ll walk in increasing righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Every follower of Jesus must be an intentional learner. Every follower of Jesus needs to be intentionally, habitually, and carefully reading and studying the Bible for him or her self. Every follower of Jesus also needs to be learning from wise and knowledgeable Bible teachers and preachers.

A Christian should never sit back and be content to know very little about the Bible. Nor should a Christian ever arrogantly assume he or she already knows everything about the Bible. A Christian shouldn’t be satisfied with just letting others study the Bible on his or her behalf, waiting for them to simplify it. A Christian should never think that the Bible is too hard for him or her to study or learn from on their own.

God is our primary teacher! The Bible is the content He uses to teach. Therefore, every believer can and should study the Bible, knowing that God will help them learn and understand if they’ll put in the effort. Through the Bible, God has revealed all that we need to know about His way and the path of righteousness in Christ. If you haven’t already, discipline yourself to study His way and His Word.

“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” – Matthew 10:38

These words of Jesus are very simple and very stark. Every Christian needs to wrestle with this statement. A lot.

To His original audience, the cross was the symbol of agony, suffering, oppression, and brutal death. Jesus doesn’t call His followers to a life of comfort, convenience, health, wealth, or popularity. He calls us to obedience. He calls us to go through what He went through: betrayal, humiliation, rejection, suffering, death, and glorious resurrection.

Though Christ saves us by grace alone, as those who are saved, He calls us to sacrifice. He calls us to surrender every aspect of our lives – time, talent, and treasure – to His work of making disciples throughout the entire world. Jesus calls us off the couch and out of the pews to go where He leads and do what He commands. If living your faith isn’t costing you in many ways, you need to meditate on this verse more!

When we say we love Jesus, accept His gift of salvation, but reject His call to hard, faithful, Spirit-empowered, joyful obedience, service, and sacrifice we aren’t worthy of the union we enjoy with Him. We aren’t worthy of the blood He shed for us. We aren’t worthy of the new creation He made us to be. We are blessed with all these things and more for a purpose: His glory and His kingdom. Take up your cross and follow Him, today, tomorrow, and every day!