Your Job is a High and Holy Calling: The Doctrine of Vocation

God is at work in the world. But He normally works through means. That is, through ordinary everyday situations and people. Now for sure, God is God, and can work in His world any way He chooses. For example, He could have continued to create the human race the way He created the first man and woman, out of the dust of the ground. He could miraculously provide our food by turning rocks into bread. When we get sick He could always heal us through the laying on of hands, or through prayer.

God works through ordinary people

But this is not the normal way He works. He chooses to provide for and bless us through the "vocations" of normal everyday people. He uses the Pastor to teach us His Word, the policeman to protect us, the farmer to provide food, the truck driver to deliver food to the grocery store, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, as well as a host of others in the medical field to heal us. Yes He could have chosen the miraculous to do all of these things but instead He chooses to work through the ordinary.

The elevation of vocation

This should be encouraging to us, especially as believers, because it elevates our "vocations" from the mundane and menial to the high and holy. During the time of the medieval church, the only "vocations" ("vocation" comes from the Latin word for "calling") were those involved in full time church work, priests, nuns, monks, etc. The peasant farmer, kitchen maid, soldier, tool maker, although all necessary, were looked upon as unspiritual and worldly. The "doctrine of vocation" taught by the Reformers changed all that.

Even the most menial task is holy

Through the "doctrine of vocation" Christians began to realize that even the most menial task is holy. The priest, nun and monk were no holier than the handmaid, farmer, shoe maker, and soldier. Because the Christian is justified by faith, whatever the "vocation", it is a high and holy calling. The Bible makes it clear that every believer is a Priest: 1Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Because every Christian is a Priest, every vocation is holy.

God assigned your job

The Apostle Paul says: 1 Corinthians 7:17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches." It is God who assigns our vocations. Let that encourage you today. And tomorrow, when you wake up and begin getting ready for the day, remember that whatever you do, whether housewife, teacher, truck driver, or grocery store clerk, your job is a high and holy calling.

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