Elijahsha: Called Out

We are uh in a series right now, we've been in for the last several weeks called Elijah Shah.

Uh can everyone pronounce that by now, by the way?

Sort of?

No?

It's not a real word, so it's okay.

Um, but what we're doing is we're studying the lives of these two prophets in the Old Testament, people that lived about 3,000 years ago, Elijah and Elisha.

So far, the the name of this series has been a little bit of a misnomer because we've only really looked at Elijah, but today we actually meet Elisha for the very first time.

Today we get to the point where their lives intersect, and so that's why we called this Elijah Shah in the first place.

Um I've loved this series so far.

I've loved just studying it personally because there's nothing that it's more powerful, there's nothing more impactful to me than just opening up God's word, just opening up the Bible and saying, hey God, what what do you want to say with this?

Because it's living and it's breathing and it's full of truth.

Like every page is virtually jam-packed with profound, practical, and powerful truth.

It really is.

And the Bible, the Bible is such a unique document.

If you're new to faith, or even you're just kind of open to the idea of believing in God, and you're kind of like, hey, what's the big deal about this book?

It's just this old book, right?

We don't worship the book.

We worship God.

But but this book, this really collection of books that we've compiled together over the years that were given to different people at different times at different points in history, it's it's completely unique among anything in history.

You know, if you went to Barnes and Noble today and bought an autobiography of some famous person in today's world, or a biography, it would read, for the most part, like the highlights of their life.

You know?

Especially if it's an autobiography.

You'd be like, wow, this is an amazing person that's accomplished so much.

But when you read the Bible, it records the lowest moments, the most embarrassing moments of virtually every single person of faith that it records.

It's not just the highlights, it's it's the lowlights too.

And that's because the Bible is genuine.

It is unusually genuine.

That's one of our core values at his hands.

We are unusually genuine.

The Bible doesn't hold back, it doesn't put any spin on it.

So we get to see the mistakes of the men and women who have gone before us living a life of faith with God.

And that's that's awesome for us.

That's actually really convenient.

It's like having an older brother or sister, and you get to learn what not to do by watching them.

I have an older brother and sister, I am grateful for some of the mistakes that they made because I didn't have to make those same mistakes.

But on the flip side, we also get to see incredible decisions, incredible attitudes, incredible mindsets that we can imitate, that we can learn from those who have gone before us.

And Elijah and Elisha are definitely two people that we would do well to imitate.

You've probably heard the phrase imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right?

Something along those lines.

I want to show you a little video on the topic of imitation.

This is something that happened to me this last week.

Go ahead and play that, guys.

That's uh that's Nathan Fowler dressed up as me for Halloween.

Right?

It's pretty good.

Like he colored his hair and everything.

And if you're on our Facebook page, he did like a Facebook live thing, and I I gotta like, I gotta give him credit because he he just nailed it.

Like my mannerisms, uh, I was like, man, I I'm a lot weirder than I thought I was because I was watching this going, what in the world?

You know, and I honestly didn't know when when I first I didn't know this was gonna happen, and so I didn't know if I should be flattered or offended, but I'm choosing to be flattered.

I'm choosing to be flattered.

He wore he wore my clothes.

I'm wearing the exact same thing that he was wearing in that video.

He wore my clothing.

It's kind of scary, but it's all good.

You know, as human beings, we we imitate.

That's how we learn.

In fact, the Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1 imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

Ephesians 5:1

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

He loved us, and he offered himself as a sacrifice to us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Let there be no sexual morality, impurity, or greed among you.

Such sins have no place among God's people.

Obscene stories, foolish talk, coarse jokes.

These are not for you.

Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

What this is saying is really simple.

Hey, imitate God.

We're not talking about being fake, we're not talking about, you know, phoning it in.

Just look at Jesus and then try to do what he does.

That's how we learn as human beings.

I have these three amazing kids, and my youngest Judah is at this stage where he's really starting to show us who he is.

He's a year and a half old, and I'm so glad that we have him.

I'm so glad that we have him.

Because the kid is, he's just funny.

Like he is funny.

And even from a very young age, I mean, he's obviously okay, he's one and a half.

That's a young age.

But even at a younger age in relation to where he's at now, he would just he would just talk in gibberish and then laugh.

Like, and laugh in such a way that he knew what he said was really funny.

So he'd just be like, you know, blah, blah, blah.

And he'd walk away.

And you'd be like, I don't know what he, but apparently he's funny.

And now he's actually starting to use words, and he is, he is hysterical.

And he's got these two older siblings that he can watch and imitate.

And he's got Megan and I, and he watches us and he imitates us, and we see all these things that we do through him.

You know, Megan is uh is super pregnant right now.

Not that there's like another form of being pregnant, like you're always 100% pregnant, right?

But she's at that point where like pregnancy has it's it's defining her now.

And so, you know, she she went out late last night to culverse uh and hoped that she would make it by 10 p.m.

Because she's pregnant and she wanted a roast beef sandwich.

And pregnant women get what pregnant women want.

You know, she's at that stage.

And and and when you're pregnant, um, or so I have observed, life gets a lot harder.

Like, men, can we just stop for a second and thank the Lord that we're not women?

Because it's way easier to be a guy.

It is way like I am totally fine admitting that.

So much easier being a man.

So so Megan's got this thing going on right now where if she has to walk, you know, up and down stairs, she breathes really heavy because there's this there's this hormone in her body called progesterone, and it causes you to breathe really deeply and it increases highly when you're pregnant.

And so if you have to like climb stairs or do something hard, you you run out of breath very fast because it's hard for you to catch your breath.

And so she comes up and down the stairs and she's just winded.

And Judah has started doing this thing, just watching, just watching her.

If Judah walks upstairs, he will stop at the end of the stairs, hold the like the door frame, and go, like that, you know.

And I'm like super certain there's no progesterone in his body, and if there were, that'd be a real bad issue, I guess.

But but he's just imitating.

He's just imitating.

That's how we learn, that's how we grow.

And look, one and a half, forty five, seventy, we're we're kind of designed by God to learn by imitation.

So it's powerful when we look at someone's life and we say, God, show me show me something that I can do.

Show me something I can learn from this person.

And there's some things in our story today that Elisha does in the very first moment he meets Elijah that we would do well to imitate.

Last week we we found Elijah at his lowest point, which was so interesting because he just had like the biggest victory of his life.

He just had this day where he saw God come through for him in such amazing, powerful ways that you would think he would be on cloud nine forever.

But there's a funny thing about human nature that sometimes it's when we're at our highest point that we're the most susceptible to fear, to frustration, and that's what happened to Elijah.

And in this moment of anxiety, Elijah expresses to God that he feels alone.

He says, God, I'm alone.

I'm the only one following you, and I'm lonely and I'm scared.

And God reminds him immediately that he's not alone.

In fact, God tells him, Elijah, there are over 7,000 people, just like you, in Israel faithful to me.

3,000 years ago in Israel, people were just abandoning God left and right.

Elijah felt alone, but God said, You're not alone.

There's 7,000 others.

And there was one in particular that God really wanted Elijah to meet.

And it's a man named Elisha.

And he says, I want you to leave this place and I want you to go and find this man named Elisha.

And that's where we pick up the story today.

It's in 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 19.

1 Kings 19:19

So Elijah went and he found Elisha, the son of Shaphet, plowing a field.

There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team.

Elisha went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away.

Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, First, let me go and kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will go with you.

Elijah replied, Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.

So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them.

He used the wood from the plough to build a fire to roast their flesh.

He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate, and then he went with Elijah to his assistant, to be his assistant.

So this is kind of an odd story for us.

Like if we actually look at this and unpack it, it's very strange.

Because number one, Elisha, he's at work, he's doing his job.

You get the impression that he he owns these oxen, which means his father actually probably owns these and he's working the field, uh, you know, but but he's a person of means, most likely, but he's working.

He's in the middle of his workday, and Elisha just walks up to him, puts his cloak, like his jacket, takes it off, puts it on Elisha's shoulders, and then walks away.

That's a very strange thing, right?

Like, can you just imagine if you're at work tomorrow and someone you have never met in your life, someone you've never seen before, just walks up to you, doesn't say a word, takes off their jacket, puts it on you, and then just walks away.

You wouldn't be like, what is going on?

Like, that's the most bizarre thing.

But but in their culture, this was deeply meaningful.

Elisha knew exactly what was going on.

Even though Elijah and Elisha had not met before, Elisha would have known exactly who Elijah is, and that's because this cloak, this jacket that Elijah was wearing, is very, very symbolic and very, very distinct.

It was something that in the Hebrew language is called, I'm gonna put this word up for you so you can see it, in a deret.

A derit is how you pronounce it, and it means this word that is what we translate cloak when we look at the Bible today, it means glory or mantle.

Okay, have you ever heard the phrase taking up your mantle?

It comes from this story.

To take up your mantle means to answer a calling, it means to step up, to do what you need to do.

And it comes from this story and another story with Elisha and Elijah.

And so Elijah goes up to Elisha and he puts his mantle, his jacket, onto Elisha.

And this was a very specific garment.

It was something that only prophets wore.

And if you actually read the story of Elijah, some of the things that we've already read, you notice that everyone sort of knows who Elijah is, even though it doesn't seem like they've ever met before.

And that's because Elijah dressed in a very distinct way.

He wore this very distinct garment that was only worn by the prophets of God.

And so people could see Elijah coming from a mile away, and they would know that man is a prophet.

And at this point in time, it's not very popular to be a prophet.

So this is not something that Elijah's just doing for distinction because it's the thing to do.

This is actually Elijah taking a risk every time he goes out in public dressed like this, because he has many enemies, but everyone would have known, oh, that man's a prophet.

He's basically wearing like a prophet's uniform.

And it's it's this cloak, this mantle that he puts on Elisha's shoulders.

And Elisha knows in that moment exactly what's happening.

Elijah is saying to Elisha, I choose you.

I pick you.

I want you to leave your life as you know it.

I want you to come and follow me.

I want you to be my assistant, to be my protege, and I want to teach you how to walk with God like I walk with God.

Because you're next.

You're on deck.

God has called you to be a prophet.

And Elisha has a choice to make in this moment.

It's a big decision.

Right?

Because to go with Elijah, it means he leaves everything he has and he most likely has a lot.

It means he leaves his family, it means he leaves his father and his mother and any siblings that he has.

And his whole life from that point on is all about service to God and service to people through God working through him.

But he he goes with Elijah.

And it's this decision that changes his life.

And this seems like such a foreign concept to us.

Like this isn't something that's gonna happen to you this week, most likely.

This is not an experience that we're probably gonna have just one-to-one to copy paste, but in reality, there is so much happening to Elisha here that happens to every single one of us who decides to follow Jesus.

And so I I want to really want to focus on three aspects of this story that we would do well to imitate and to learn from today.

That we would do well to be like a one and a half year old imitating his mother going up the stairs.

That we would have that much intention to do what we see being done in this story.

Three aspects.

Number one, consider your calling.

Consider your calling.

It's interesting whenever Elijah puts this mantle on Elisha, and Elisha says, uh, okay, yeah, let me go take care of a few things first.

Elisha says, absolutely fine, go do that.

But think about what I've done.

That's what Elijah says to Elisha.

Think about what I've done to you today.

Consider the calling that I have given to you.

Think about it, consider it.

Have you considered the calling that God has put on your life today?

I really sat and thought about it because here's the thing you you have been called by God.

If you have given your life to Jesus at all, and I know not all of us are at that place, and some of us are still figuring that out, and that's fine, but if you are someone who has said yes to Jesus, there is a calling on your life.

When we hear the word calling, we almost always think occupation, right?

But that's it's not what a calling ultimately is.

It's something far deeper than that, something far more wide-reaching than that.

1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9, describes what it means to be called.

1 Peter 2:9

And Peter is describing the way that the people in his culture lived, kind of the everyday common people.

They basically lived just to satisfy whatever passion, whatever desire they had in the moment.

And Peter says, but you're not like that.

For you are a chosen people.

You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession.

As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light.

You have been called by God.

You've been called out of something and into something.

In other words, you've been picked.

And it feels really good to be picked, right?

Like we all know what it feels like to not be picked for something.

To be passed over.

You know, you maybe you've been passed over for a promotion at work.

Maybe there's a job that you really wanted and you put in your resume, and they just said, no, we're not gonna go with you.

Maybe there's someone that you had deep feelings for, and those feelings were not reciprocated, and you feel rejected.

We all know what it feels like to not be picked.

I remember in high school, there was a girl that I was obsessed with, as high school boys, you know, will tend to be.

And for about a year and a half, I thought this girl was like the one.

Because you know, when you're 15, you just know.

Right?

You just know.

And so what's funny is I started dating Meg when I was 18, so you know, I don't really have a leg to stand on there, but but this girl I thought I thought she was it.

And I was like head over heels, I just I thought she was it, and I and I flirted with her.

Subtlety's not really my thing, you know, it's just not.

Megan, you know, gives me lots of encouragement sometimes.

That hey, you know, be be more subtle in your approach because I'm just not.

Like at home, I'll just be like, hey.

You know, like you maybe wanna.

That's it.

That's like that is me being subtle.

That and she'll be like, just be more subtle.

And I'm like, I am, because if I wasn't being subtle, I would just say what I but I can't do that.

So she I'm just not a subtle person.

And so maybe I was too much.

I apologize.

Um I do love my wife.

But the uh, but this girl, I thought, man, this this girl, and and I so I flirted with her, and I'm not subtle, and I let it be known.

I like you.

I like you.

I would like you and I to date each other.

That's what I let this girl know.

And she just she never rejected me, okay?

She never like reciprocated either.

Now, as an older person, I realize, dude, she just wasn't into you.

She did reject you.

She was just trying to maybe be nice or something, I don't know.

But it got a little ridiculous.

Like I just kept kind of going to her and flirting and and you know, saying, hey, what if we you know went out and she was like, Oh, I'm busy, but maybe maybe next week, you know, all these little things, and I just I she kept me on the line.

And it all sort of came to a head, my my senior year homecoming.

I asked her to homecoming and she said yes.

And I was like, Yes, I did it, like mission accomplished.

And then later that same day, a friend of mine asked her to homecoming, and she said yes to him, too, which I thought was odd.

And so, and so I went up to her because I because my friend said, dude, I'm I'm going to homecoming with this girl.

And I was like, Oh, okay.

Well, me too.

So, how's that gonna work?

Are we just gonna save money on on dinner and like split a I don't know, but but I went to talk to her about it and I said, Hey, what uh I'm confused here because he said, and and earlier you said to me, and she said, Yeah, I just can you guys just figure it out, the two of you?

I just can't decide.

I know, right?

Which was awesome because that was the moment where like the spell broke, and I went, Yeah, you can go with him.

Uh like I'm out.

That was the moment where I just hit the eject button and said, Yeah, I'm done with this, and I'm so glad I did, because I I then it was like Megan and I happened, and it's all great.

So I'm happy for that moment, but but in the moment, like in the moment, that was that was like the worst thing that could have happened.

It would have been better for me to just have her say, No, I'm not really into you, uh, I don't want to go to homecoming with you.

That would have been better than to like get my hopes up by saying yes, and then hours later be like, ah, I don't know, I'm wavering a little bit.

Like, come on, you know?

We all know what it feels like to be passed over.

We all know what it feels like to not be picked, to be rejected.

Have you considered the honor that comes from knowing that God, the creator of the universe, this all-powerful, knows everything, can do anything.

God has looked at you and he has said, I pick you.

I want you.

I want to have a relationship with you.

I want to use you to do my work in this world.

I think you're good enough.

I think you're talented enough.

I think you have what it takes to change the world around you.

I want you on my team, I pick you.

Have you considered how incredible it is that God has chosen you?

And maybe there have been people in your past that have rejected you and passed you over, and maybe that led you to believe that you're just not worthy enough.

God says differently.

Because God has called you.

Have you considered the calling on your life and what it means to have God say, I choose you?

Elisha considered the calling that was placed on him.

Number two, Elisha answered the call.

Like he answered the call.

It's one thing to have a calling on your life.

It's one thing to have someone say, Hey, I want you.

I want you to be on my team.

I want you to be in relationship with me.

I want you to do something with me together.

It's another thing to say, yeah, I'm in.

Sometimes that's a hard decision.

Because it almost always means leaving something else.

Like when you're called, just like 1 Peter 2.9 said, you are called out of something and into something.

You can't really do both.

Jesus had this way of calling disciples, very much like Elijah did.

We see a few of these stories in the Bible, Matthew chapter 4, verse 18, it says, One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, also called Peter and Andrew, throwing a net into the water, for they fish for a living.

Matthew 4:18

So they're just like Elisha, they're just doing their job in the middle of their work day.

And Jesus called out to them, Come follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.

And they left their nets at once and they followed him.

A little farther up the shore, he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets, and he called to them too, and they immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind, just like Elisha.

Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in his tax collector's booth in the middle of his workday, doing his job.

Follow me and be my disciple, Jesus said to him.

So Matthew got up and followed him.

And when I read stories like this and I think about how Jesus did it just like Elijah did it, I feel kind.

Bad for employers, right?

Because Jesus doesn't give them the chance to put in a two-week notice.

And if you were an employer in that day, you'd be like, Jesus, could you just like even wait till the end of the day?

End of the workday.

Because it's middle of the day, and he's like, follow me now, and they just kind of turn to whoever they work for and go, I gotta go.

I'm really sorry.

Bye.

And they just leave.

And those people had to be like, oh, Jesus.

Every time he shows up, people quit their jobs.

And the hard thing I think for us, and even I think hard for me sometimes, is when we read stories like this, we read stories like Matthew's story and James and John and Peter and Andrew and Elisha, there's this common link that answering God's call means you quit your job and you go do ministry full-time.

And that's what I do.

Like I work at church.

And in some ways, that is the greatest blessing in the world.

But in other ways, it's difficult because it's hard for me sometimes, I'm just being honest with you, it's hard for me sometimes to remember what it's like for the average person that goes to work and does not, like all the people I work with love Jesus, every one of them.

All the people I work with every day are the most joyful, amazing, passionate about God people in the world.

I don't have the experience of going to work and feeling like, man, I'm kind of the only one here who really follows God, and how do I have this conversation with this person?

And man, can I pray with this person?

Would that be weird?

I don't, I don't know.

I don't have to navigate that stuff.

And so I kind of have the classic example of a calling where you know I quit what I was doing before and I started working in a church.

And so sometimes I think we hear the word calling, we read stories like this, and we think, oh, the people who are called are the people who work in ministry.

That's that's not that's not true.

Because if you all quit your jobs to work here, we'd have like one amazing Sunday, right?

We'd have one Sunday where it'd be like, wow, we got it all covered, and the next Sunday it just wouldn't work, right?

I mean, I you're the ones, you're the ones who get to be the church Monday through Saturday.

You're the ones who get to go and interact with people who don't know Jesus yet, who don't know what it's like to be loved by God, who don't know what it's like to be chosen, to be picked, to be selected, to have God say, I want you.

You're the ones that get to rub shoulders with those people every single day.

Not me.

I just hopefully get to teach you and encourage you to do what God's called you to do because you have a calling on your life.

Being called does not mean quitting what you do and working in ministry.

It means that for some people, but but not for most.

In fact, probably one of the most amazing people that's ever been called in history was the Apostle Paul.

And Paul never got paid to be a pastor.

He made tents for a living.

That's what he did.

He was a tent maker.

And he did that during the day, and then at night he would go and he would teach and he would plant churches.

I mean, he it being called does not mean you have to do something for a living.

It's not about that, it's about the way you live.

Right?

It's about the way you live, it's about how you do what you do.

In fact, in 1 Timothy 6, verse 17, Paul wrote this to Timothy, who is a pastor of a church that Paul helps start.

1 Timothy 6:17

And this is what he says to Timothy Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money.

By the way, uh, we would all be considered rich to Paul.

Every single one of us, maybe with few exceptions, because what rich meant to the people in that time was like you eat three meals a day.

Okay, but he's saying to the people who are rich in this world, tell them not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.

Amen.

Right?

Money, unreliable?

Money.

Their trust should be in God, who richly gives as all we need, who richly gives us all what we need for our enjoyment.

And then tell them to use their money to do good.

And this is really cool.

He says they should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.

By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so they may experience true life.

Now, that phrase, they should be rich in good works.

When we see the phrase good works, we think like feeding the homeless, uh, you know, working in ministry, going overseas and doing missions, and all that is accurate.

Those are all good works.

Those are all, you know, really good things to do.

It's just not what this verse is talking about at all.

The the Greek word that we translate good works, um, it would almost be better in our language, the way we talk, if it just said, do good work.

Just do good work.

Because that word means your like occupational job, what you do for a living.

Be rich in good works.

It just means whatever you do, do it in such a way that people see who God is through you.

So if you're a teacher, teach for the glory of God.

And if you're a manager, manage for the glory of God.

And you work with customer service, you know, serve customers for the glory of God.

If you're a parent, parent for the glory of God.

If you're a spouse, love your spouse for the glory of God.

Because most people in this world are living life for their own glory.

And that makes sense.

You know, we feel like we have to get ahead, and most people are trying to do things so that they're more recognized.

What God is calling us to do is do everything that we do so that He is more recognized, so that Jesus becomes more famous.

So being called by God does not mean you have to quit what you do and go work in some ministry.

It means what you do becomes your ministry.

Your calling is to do what you do in such a way that people see God in it.

That there's just an unselfishness and a joy and a love and a patience, that there's kindness, that there's generosity.

Those things are so rare in this world, but but as followers of Jesus, they're meant to fill us.

So answering your call, it just means recognizing that that what you do is your ministry.

So whatever you do, do it for God, do it for his glory.

That that is what it means to answer the call that's been placed on your life to live that way.

One final thing.

We need to consider the calling on our lives, we need to answer that call.

But but what Elisha does, and we're gonna see this in the weeks to come, is Elisha lives consistent with his calling.

Elisha lives a life that is consistent with his calling.

I want to go back to 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9.

1 Peter 2:9

We read this a few minutes ago, but I'm gonna go a little bit further.

You're not like that, for you're a chosen people.

You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession.

As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light.

Once you had no identity as a people, now you are God's people.

Once you received no mercy, now you've received God's mercy.

Dear friends, I warn you, as temporary residents and foreigners.

Paul's understanding of life on this earth is always that we're here for a season, but this is not our home.

And sometimes, let's just be honest, you look at the world around you and you go, I'm so glad this is not my permanent home, right?

As temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors.

Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they'll see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

What Paul is saying here, what Peter rather is saying here, is to live consistent with the calling that's been placed on your life.

I find myself far too often making decisions out of convenience rather than decisions out of conviction.

You know, my day-to-day life, like all of us, I have decisions that I have to make, and oftentimes the convenient decision, the easiest decision, the one that just serves what I want the fastest right now, it's not a decision that matches the convictions that I live with.

And what we all, all of us who follow Jesus, have to remember is that we are called to live differently.

It's not about, it's not about trying to prove ourselves to God, trying to earn God's love, trying to live in such a way that, trying to live in such a way that God is pleased with us.

It's not about that at all.

You don't have to earn a thing.

God has given you his love.

Not one of us had to do a thing before Jesus gave his life for us, because we live like 2,000 years after that happened.

We don't earn it.

But once we have it, it should like, it should fill us with a desire to live in such a way that it honors the name of Jesus.

Right?

I think a lot of the times when I'm having conversations with people, I realize, and I do this myself, we just ask the wrong questions when it comes to the decisions that we make.

Asking the right question is almost always the fastest route to the right decision.

And so I'll have conversations with people, and the question that they're asking, as they're kind of wrestling with something they need to do as a follower of Jesus, is is this wrong?

Is this bad?

Like, is this if I do this, is it bad?

And that's that's fine.

Like at one level, that's an okay question to ask.

Is this bad?

And the reality is that if you belong to Jesus, look, Paul said it this way: everything's permissible.

There's not one thing you can do that's gonna change the way God feels about you.

Because you're his child, you're his son, you're his daughter.

There's not one thing that my children can do that that has any impact on how I really feel about them.

I mean, in the moment, do they drive me nuts?

Absolutely.

Do they do things that just make me go, I want to pull my hair out?

Yes.

But five seconds later, do I love them an ounce less?

No.

There's not one thing you can do that is that is gonna change that.

So Paul said, look, everything is permissible.

In other words, you can sort of get away with anything.

God's still gonna love you, but not everything's beneficial.

And so the question that we should be asking ourselves when we're making decisions in our life is not, is this bad?

Or will God will God forgive me if I if I make this decision?

I know it's probably not the best decision, but you know, I mean, there's a lot of things going on, there's a lot of circumstantial things that are just making this really hard, and and is God gonna be okay with me?

Well, well, yeah, he will.

He loves you, but that's not the right question to ask.

The question you should ask is, is this decision consistent with my calling?

Is this behavior in my life consistent with the calling that God has put on my life?

The calling to be an ambassador for Jesus to this world, the calling to live in such a way that people look at my life and they see Jesus.

And if there's a decision that we have to make, if there's something we're wrestling with today, if there's something going on in our lives and we're struggling between two choices, look, if one of those choices is inconsistent with the calling that God has placed on your life, that's the wrong choice.

And there's a lot of clarity that comes from from asking that question is this consistent with the calling that's been placed on my life?

You know, one of the things that that's that's hard for me is balancing, and it's hard for all of us, right?

Balancing work and the rest of life.

I've got these amazing children, and and it's tough sometimes for me to balance what I do here with with spending time with them.

Because a lot of the time that is kind of that classic time to hang out with your family is eaten up by what I do here.

Because Saturdays are a lot of times crazy for me because sometimes the message just is bad on Friday.

Just bad.

Sometimes the message is bad on Saturday at 2 a.m., like it was last night.

It was bad.

Okay?

Seriously, it was bad.

So the weekends for me can be kind of crazy, and the Sundays, you know, are long, and so I've got my Saturday and Sunday are oftentimes sort of absorbed, and I've got to find time for my kids, and it'd be so easy for me just to say no.

But look, I I believe very much that I'm called to this church.

I know that I'm called to my kids.

I don't have to wonder, is God calling me to be a father to these human beings?

Like, yes, he is.

And so there's just these moments where I have to ask a question when I'm when I'm stretched and pulled in two different directions.

Well, which do I know that I'm called to?

What decision is consistent with my calling?

I I I just ask you today to think about that.

And whether it's a decision that you're making right now, whether it's a decision that that's going to come up soon, maybe you're here today because something's about to come in your life, some decision, some crisis, some choice that you have to make, and you you need to figure out which decision is consistent with your calling.

Because if you live consistent with your calling, you experience life with God as it's meant to be.

There is just a peace and a joy, there is a rest for your soul that can only come from from living consistently consistently with the calling that's been placed on you.

And again, you've been called.

Your worship team, if you guys want to want to make your way back up, we'll we'll finish up with some worship this morning.

I think at the end of the day, take everything else that we've talked about away.

If you boil this down to one thing, it's just the absolute, almost unbelievable truth that God has looked at us and picked us.

Yeah, I I I feel bad sometimes for talking about the same things over and over again.

But uh I have to give a message every week.

Like every week, okay?

It's a lot.

And so uh last week, my my son starting his basketball season.

Have I ever told you guys about Liam and basketball?

Have we ever had this conversation?

He likes basketball, he's really good at it.

So I this is my first year actually coaching, okay?

And I didn't really know how all this worked.

And so the way it works is real simple.

All the kids, all the kids played in front of the coaches, and then we sit there.

It's so awkward because their parents are there and we're literally like measuring their kids up, you know, and it's a very strange feeling because you know you you want to make sure the teams are somewhat even, and so you want to, you know, these are the kids that that are the best at this age in their life, and they're in second grade, so like the bar's not super high.

Um but some of these kids are playing for the first time in their life, and so you just want to make sure that the teams are as even as possible, so it's just you know fun for everybody.

And so we're sitting there and we're doing that.

Then we go in this back room, um, it's very shady, and uh and we drew cards, and it was there's three coaches for the second grade at Liam's school, and so you draw cards, and based on the number you draw, that's who gets the first pick.

Well, here's the thing your son is automatically on your team.

Liam is really good.

You know, he's just he's really good.

But I drew the first pick.

And so I'm like, what do I do?

Because I already have, in my opinion, the best player out of all the kids on my team.

So, you know, it'd probably be good if I if I left the second best player on the table for another team, but I did not do that, right?

Because it's sports, and that's the one thing where being a Christian is not, there's a little, Jesus understands, you know.

Like, when you have a ball in your hand, he's like, oh, well, you were playing sports, so I understand.

It's a you know, it's totally, totally different set of rules.

No, I've I'm like, I looked at my other you know, coaches, I'm friends with these guys, and I'm like, I'm I'm really sorry.

But I gotta do what I gotta do.

That's that's how that's how we pick in this world, right?

Like you pick, you pick the most capable person.

You pick the person that you you know is is the most surefire bet.

Can any one of us look at ourselves and with any sincerity and honesty say, hey God, you should probably pick me.

Not say anything bad about all these people, but you should go with me.

Because, like, I got this.

Or or does it blow you away like it blows me away?

That God would look at you, he would look at me, and knowing everything he knows about me, knowing all my failures, all my all my stupid idiosyncrasies, all the things that I just do that are that are just so so much less than I know I I could do or I could be, that God still says, No, I want you on my team.

I choose you.

God has chosen you today.

And if you're here this morning and you've never given your life to Jesus, God has chosen you today.

He wants to know you, He wants to live connected to you, He wants you to experience His love, He wants you to live in relationship with Him, He wants you to know why you exist.

He has called you today.

Just recognize how incredible that is, how blessed that is, how amazing that is, that the God of the universe will look at us and go, Yeah, I want them.

And just like Elisha, consider the calling.

Think about it.

Think about what it really means, that it's not some throwaway thing, that it's actually a really big deal that you've been called.

Consider that this week.

Think about it, dwell on it, pray about it.

God has chosen you.

Will you answer the call?

And will you live consistently with that call?

Pray with me.

Jesus, thank you so much for calling us into a relationship with you.

That Lord, you looked at us and you saw something in us worthy of your your love, worthy of your time, your attention.

And you have you have placed your mantle on all of us.

You've given us all your spirit.

You've invited every single one of us into a relationship with you.

You stand at the door of our hearts and you knock and you ask us to let you in, and every one of us has a choice.

Will we open that door?

And for those of us who have already done that, I pray, Lord, that you would you would fill us with with an amazement, a wonder that you choose us still.

And that we would keep inviting you deeper and deeper into our lives and our in our hearts.

And for those of us, God, who have maybe been resistant to that decision because we just don't understand it all, we just we're not sure, speak to us.

Like only you can.

And give us the courage to open that door to answer that call.

We love you, we're grateful for you, we need you, and it's in your name we pray, Jesus.

Amen.