We can understand neither God nor ourselves in any living, adequate, and mature way that is an impersonal, non-relational way. When God’s calling and our walking fit, we are growing up in Christ. God calls; we walk.

Eugene H. Peterson. Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Kindle Locations 392-393). Kindle Edition.

Peterson begins the second chapter by making it clear Ephesians is all about calling. I’ll get more detailed on Tuesday, but thought I would use Fridays to just highlight a thought from the chapter.

Again, it is easy to pick up just this one thought and sit with it for a few days. It is not earth-shakingly new. It is not a self-help formula.
It is a truth.

God calls us. He does not save us in some vapid, generic way…we are not numbers lined up or just a crowd of people. He has called me by name. And You. We are named.

Named people who come together to walk into maturity in following God.

We find out about that calling in the Bible….and the Bible, as Peterson says, is not just for information:

God speaks the decisive word that puts us on the way, the road, the path of life. The Hebrew word for Bible is Miqra, a noun formed from the verb “to call,” qara. The Bible is not a book to carry around and read for information on God, but a voice to listen to. I like that. This word of God that we name Bible, book, is not at root a word to be read and looked at and discussed. It is a word to be listened to and obeyed, a word that gets us going. Fundamentally, it is a call: God calls us.

Eugene H. Peterson. Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Kindle Locations 407-410). Kindle Edition.

Called.

That means there is purpose…there is something to put our hand to. Calling means moving somewhere…it means following. Obedience. Discipline…thinking of my post from earlier today.

The rest of the chapter will develop this thought and Peterson will expand on our understanding of calling…and of walking…and of maturing.  I’ll post thoughts on the rest of the chapter on Tuesday, and I hope you’ll jump in to the discussion.

For now…you are called. On purpose…with meaning…by name. Sit with that for awhile and know that God knows you by name and has purpose for you.