Every preacher should know who calls—God! What He called us to do—preach! What He called us to preach—the Gospel.

The call to preach was the complete reorientation of my life and has become the chief motivation of my pilgrimage. The call does not come out of a sense of need, but is a call from God.

A sense of need will sustain neither the preaching nor the preacher. We are sustained by the grace and power involved in the call. The secret is not so much that we seek God but that God seeks us. We may start out searching but we end up being discovered. We are found.

Calling is vital to all of us, but most particularly to those who preach. A calling establishes our identity and uniqueness. All of the “want-to” in the world will never make us what we need to become.

God addresses us by name as unique, precious, significant and free to respond. Sometimes we may be unsure of response but we must never be unsure of God’s call. God’s calling is the central dynamic of the preacher’s life and work.

There will be some days that we may have nothing to sustain us but the call! We are called to God by God to become His preacher. We dare not relax. There is a cost to discipleship that we cannot waive and a challenge to obedience that we must not conceal.

Man cannot explain the full purpose of God. We simply seek Him in this deranged world through the cross. Two questions I ask when I look into a mirror: Who is that gray-haired man looking at me? Why did God call me?

God calls us by name. It may not mean much to you but it means everything to me. God knows me; He knows my name; He called me by name. What a wonderful God!

This is part of an ongoing series on ‘The Jeremiah Factor.’