Monday, February 11, 2008

Beyond the call?

I'm discovering that things they say on the radio are good food for thought. Or debate.. Whichever. Lol
Anyway, I was listening to the radio one the way to work this morning and they played a feature that they play every morning called, "Beyond the Call." This feature is about a minute long and tells brief stories about people who went "beyond the call." I really enjoy the feature, but this morning, when I heard the title something struck dischord in me.
Beyond the call? As Christians we are called to live our lives as living sacrifices. We are called to care for the needy (Deut 15:11 "For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'") and the widows and orphans (James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress...") We are called to love even our enemies (Matt 5:44 "'But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.'")
My question is, can a Christian go beyond the call of Christ? I don't believe so. The call of a Christian os so far beyond human capability. Only with the power of Christ can we "press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:14). The world's view of things is so different than God's (Is 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.") and what the world may see as "going beyond the call" is really simply trying to fulfill the ultimate call.
There is nothing a Christian can do that would be "going beyond" what Christ has called us to. Even those who have died for the sake of His name did not go beyond the call. They merely followed and obeyed, even unto death, and that was the call. They couldn't go beyond because God expects the utmost. There is no beyond when it comes to the call that is on the life of every believer.

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