I Have Called You By Name

Sometimes during life's most ceremonial moments, God speaks to us directly - a newborn niece is baptized, a cousin is married, we bury a neighbor and friend.

It was during my son's first communion that I was reminded how individually God has called me - not as a member of a church or of a school or of a family, just me.  He knows my name.  He knows my gifts.  He knows my weaknesses.  He doesn't call me to be anyone else but the me whom he created.  Isaiah 43:1 says,

"But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. 

O Israel, the one who formed you says,

Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.

I have called you by name; you are mine."

As our creator, God knew us before we were even born.  He had a plan for us from the very beginning of our lives.  How cool is that?  Jeremiah 1:5 says,

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,

before you were born, I set you apart."

As I was talking with my son before he went to bed the other night, I asked him what he thought his purpose was in life.  He shrugged and said maybe it was to go to college or to play football.  I said to him, "I don't mean what are you going to be doing in 10 years, I mean, what is your purpose in life right now?"  It hadn't occurred to him that God actually had a purpose for him in the present, as a 12 year old boy still in training.

Our purpose in life is to bring glory to God, the one who created us.  It's a purpose that can be lived out by anyone of any age, of any education or of any occupation.  How we live that out will look different from day to day, but it can change our perspective.  It can make our big personal goals seem less important and our small daily acts seem more significant.  For what purpose has God called you today?