“These are the names of the twelve he chose…” Mark 3:16 (NLT).
You know the list, don’t you? Simon (Peter), James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Alphaeus’ son James, Thaddeus, Simon and Judas. The men selected to carry His message, touch those He couldn’t reach and speak in places He couldn’t be. Workers chosen for an important task. Apostles. Disciples. Missionaries.
An important list. A chronicle of potential martyrs, soon-to-be considered saints and ordinary men set out on extraordinary missions. We ooh and aah over their escapades, their zeal and their faith. We model our lives after the power proved in the accounts of these twelve. We can trace their names through history, the Bible’s and the world’s, and find that what He sent them out to do–they did.
Did you know this list of those God has chosen is not an exhaustive list? It doesn’t include everyone selected for the job. It doesn’t, name by name, provide us with a detailed account of those called to do His will, share His message and use His power in ways that affect many…
How do I know? Because it doesn’t include your name or mine.
We, having been saved from our sins by His blood, are chosen alongside these 12 to serve. The fact that our names are not listed in Mark 3 does not, if we claim to be His, exempt us from service. Our callings came at a much later time, perhaps at an altar of prayer, kneeling beside our parents’ sofa or in a Bible school classroom–but you can be sure we’ve been called to carry out the same mission. As His, we’re on the list.
What are you doing with your calling? Anything? Anything, at all?
Malinda Edgell
Illinois
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for WNAC vice president Shirley Jackson in her role as function coordinator for the 2010 WNAC Convention.
