When Jesus invited the fishermen at Galilee to follow Him,
His invitation was also a call.
"Follow me," said Jesus to Simon and Andrew, "and I will make you become fishers of men" (Mark 1: 17). Jesus' invitations contain the promise of call. Christians doing their daily work are literally working out part of their call, which in its broadest sense is to bring Christ into all of life.
Not all of a Christian's call is in the workplace. God puts high value on call being worked out elsewhere too, such as in healthy home life, friendships, and life-giving rest. We are beginning a new year, and our calling is to practice Christ's values wherever we are and in whatever we're doing. God has an entire world to love, redeem, heal, and guide. His invitation to follow Him calls us to be His agents in that task.
As we accept Jesus' invitation to watch what He's doing this year, we need to let Him put shape on the call. Christian calling is broad-based, asking us to be consistent in God-honoring behavior in and out of our workplaces. For some readers, your workplace will be an expression of a focused call from God. For some other readers, the sense of call in your workplace activities may be less focused. The point to remember is that call emerges from accepting Our Lord's first invitation. Simon's and Andrew's calling was not only to become "fishers of men," but to see the years it took to get there as also part of their calling.
