"Each day at His good pleasure God's gracious will is done. He sent His greatest treasure in Jesus Christ, His Son. He ev'ry gift imparts. The bread of earth and heaven are by His kindness given. Praise Him with thankful hearts!
"Praise God with acclamation and in His gifts rejoice. Each day finds its vocation responding to His voice. Soon years on earth are past; but time we spend expressing the love of God brings blessing that will forever last!"
As we follow Jesus Christ, each of us has a vocation, a calling. In fact, we have more than one vocation and some of these various callings may change over time and through different circumstances of life. These callings certainly include careers, the honest work that glorifies God and serves others. Such vocations may take people to work outside of their homes, while others work within the home, caring for their families. But our vocations are much more than the careers to which God may call us. Our vocations include the many daily relationships in which we are called to love and care for others. These may be as a mother or father, husband or wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, neighbor, customer or store clerk, teacher or student, client or construction worker.
Our vocations are formed at every place and relationship where our life in Christ intersects with life in the world. This is because our first and foremost calling is our identity as a baptized child of God. We rejoice in God's "greatest treasure," Jesus Christ His Son, and in His gifts, including the Spirit's fruit that empowers and enables us to fulfill our many callings: "joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22b-23a). As we carry out our vocations, God is at work in and through us, bringing order and blessings to the world He created and sustains: "Each day at His good pleasure God's gracious will is done."
Our daily vocations, as varied as they may be, will not always be easy. Work and relationships, whether within the family or apart from it, can be difficult. At the place where our life in Christ intersects with daily life, a cross may be formed, a cross of suffering, a burden of love, that we take up and carry as we follow in Jesus' footsteps. Our Savior had His own vocations, as the loving, obedient Son of Mary and Joseph and as the compassionate Lord who healed the sick and proclaimed the kingdom of God. Yet it was Jesus' foremost vocation, His primary calling, to take up His cross in obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father. Pursuing our callings and taking up the cross, we follow Jesus, who "came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45b).
WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, guide me each day as I follow my callings in service to You and others. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "From God Can Nothing Move Me," which is number 713 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. Can you name some separate vocations in your life? How do you use them day to day?
2. How important is God's Spirit in helping us develop and utilize our vocations?
3. How does God work through your vocations to bless and benefit others?
Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 113-115 1 Thessalonians 3
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