Answering The Call

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Jeremiah 1:18-19

Introduction: The Ringing Phone

If you are entering the house of God and your phone rings, what is the first thing you do? You look at the screen. If it is an important call, you answer it immediately. If you miss it, you make sure to call back as soon as possible. We are very smart when it comes to human calls, but when it comes to the call of the Almighty God, many of us have become “experts” at refusing to pick up.

Today, I want to talk to you about Answering the Call. God can call you for a great work, but if you refuse, He is a gentleman—He may leave you and find another. Do not let the Master pass you by because you were too busy to “pick up” His call.

1. God Knew You Before Your Parents Met

In Jeremiah 1:5, God tells Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Child of God, understand this: before your father and mother even met, God had already established your blueprint. You are not an accident. You might think you are only called to be a “prophet” of your small family or your small circle of friends, but God wants to take you to another dimension. He wants to make you a prophet to the nations!

Look at Mother Mary. She was a simple girl, but when the Angel told her she would carry the Messiah, she didn’t argue. She said, “Amen, let it be to me according to your word.” Look at young Samuel. He didn’t initially understand the voice, but he learned to listen.

The Challenge: We must stop making the things of God so hard. Just listen. In a day of 24 hours, God asks for a “tithe” of your time—that is 2 hours and 4 minutes. Do not let 24 hours pass without giving God His portion. Whether you are at work or on the road, pray without ceasing. If you pray for a few minutes every hour, you will find you have given God His time.

2. No Room for Justification

When God called Jeremiah, Jeremiah started giving excuses. He said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am too young” (Jeremiah 1:6).

This year, there is no room for justification! When God wants to work with you, He does not look at your age or your physical status. Even in the “dark world,” the enemy uses children; you see a small child physically, but in the spiritual realm, they are a “lord.” If the kingdom of darkness understands that age is just a number, why don’t the children of Light?

Jesus at age 12 was already debating with elders in the Temple.
Job tried to question God, but God asked him, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

When God calls you, He doesn’t need your CV or your permission. He doesn’t need to know if you are poor or uneducated. When He called Peter, people saw a common fisherman who only knew about nets and fish. But God said, “I will make you a fisher of men.” On the Day of Pentecost, that same “uneducated” fisherman stood up and 3,000 souls were won!

3. The Weight of the Call

Accepting the call comes with a weight. It is a spiritual weight.

God warned Jeremiah that the people would fight him, but He promised: “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you” (Jeremiah 1:19). We are sent as sheep among wolves, but we stand because of the One who sent us.

Do not allow small things to stop your calling:

Let the rain not be the reason you miss church.
Let transport fare not be the reason you stop serving.
Refuse to be late for the King of Kings.

The Bible warns in the book of Hebrews and Ephesians to redeem the time because the days are evil. If you delay in answering God, you are only pushing yourself into “lateness.” You will wake up one day and realize you are starting your destiny far behind schedule.

4. The Danger of Vacancy

Finally, remember this: Your place can be replaced. In the book of Acts, Judas Iscariot lost his place because he did not value his calling. The Bible says another was chosen to take his place. If you refuse to use the “sword” God put in your hand, He will give that sword to someone else.

The Apostles knew the weight of the call. They faced terrible deaths for the Gospel:

Peter was crucified, but he requested to be turned upside down because he felt unworthy to die like Jesus.
Others were thrown into boiling oil or left in deserts. Yet, they never stopped “answering the call.”

Conclusion & Call to Action

The Bible says every person will be rewarded according to what they have done. There is a curse upon the one who keeps his sword from blood—meaning, a curse upon the one who refuses to do the spiritual work God has assigned to them.

Tomorrow never comes. You do not know what tomorrow holds, but you know who holds today. If you can serve the Lord today, do it with all your heart