Day 5

BE SURE OF YOUR CALLING

"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." 1 Peter 1:10

The promise of Romans 8:28 is true for the Christian because his whole view of the world is changed. He sees God working to restore the harmony lost in Eden. There are plenty of answers missing but he has answers where unbelievers have none! Life for him is not a sequence of random incidents. It is a journey to a known destination. Once on the right road nothing which happens can prevent the traveller completing the journey - falls, mistakes, wrong turns, accidents, even death! Only by deliberately choosing to step off that road and refusing to return to it can the traveller fail to arrive. Christ is the road, he is our guarantee of safe arrival as long as we follow him by means of the guide he has provided. The guide is the Holy Spirit and he will stay close unless we rebuff him so many times that his guidance becomes ineffective. Look again at Jude 24,25 and Eph. 4:30.

David is an example of this. Despite his many sins he always recognised his condition before God, repented and trusted in God's acceptance.

Salvation is open to all: John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9

Each of the three leading characters in 1st and 2nd Samuel received an explicit call from God: the priest and prophet 1 Sam. 3:4-16, and the two kings Saul 1 Sam. 10:1 and David 1 Sam. 16:12,13.

The last part of Romans 8:28 qualifies the promise with, "and are called according to his purpose." Have you been called?

See Matt. 22:14, according to John 3:16 this 'many' seems to include the entire human race!

The discover text addresses ordinary God-fearers like you and me. Those who are chosen or elected are pinpointed in Matt. 24:34-40 and 1 John 1:3,5; 4:7. Are you making sure you have been chosen?