Strictly speaking, the believer has no choice. He is not his own, he is
bought with a price; and his true business in life is to do the will of
God.
God’s will is, therefore, his career; Christ his Object and Christ his
Motive. What a wonderful career this is! None other can compare with
it. Those who pursue it are assured of divine support, a heavenly
Father’s care, and the acquisition of the true, the eternal riches.
The Lord Jesus is the great Model. “Coming into the world he says…Lo, I
come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do, O God, thy
will. (Heb. 10:5, 7) That will involved for Him the offering of His
body once for all as the great Antitype of all the offerings and
sacrifices of old. Our sanctification and all our blessings depend upon
it. At twelve years of age He said, “Did ye not know that I ought to be
occupied in my Father’s business?” (Lk. 2:49).
God’s will for the Christian is clearly set out in Scripture. Christ’s
body is here and he is to function as a member of it. God’s house is
here, and he is responsible to undertake levitical, and priestly
service in relation to it, and to God who dwells in it. (See Num. 1–4)
His calling is heavenly and he is to pursue with all his energies,
“looking towards the goal, for the prize of the calling on high of God
in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14 N.T.) God’s will, therefore, “demands my
soul, my life, may all!”
The young believer may say, “Yes, but I have my living to get.” The
Lord Jesus, referring to temporal needs, says, “Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33) God, as it were, says, “You make my
interests your concern, I’ll make you needs My care.” God does far
better for a man than a man could do for himself. And so the Scripture
says, “Confide in Jehovah with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine
own intelligence; in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will make
plain thy paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6)
As you pray and wait upon Him about your earthly calling, your heart
already fixed upon Him and His interests, He will make quite plain what
the earthly calling is.