“…whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19
In this passage Jesus says if we follow his commands “we will be called great” in a future time and society called “the kingdom of heaven”. We don’t talk much about life after death. This life consumes us. But Jesus talked about the next life a lot.
Every Christian has three callings or assignments from God, an internal, external, and eternal calling.
Our internal calling is to know Christ and become like him.
Our inner person should be growing to love God and love people.
Our external calling is visible to everyone – it’s the work we do.
God wants us to be hardworking in our physical jobs and all our service to others. And finally, our eternal calling is a specific assignment from God that I believe each of us will be graciously given in the next life.
Our level of faithfulness in the internal and external callings is important to God.
In fact, God seems to base our eternal calling upon how we manage these two temporary callings. Our future, according to the Bible, seems to be based on how we learn to receive God’s grace and let his Spirit flow through us in this life. The little things you do today will have an eternal impact. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5
Look at your worries, they probably circle around your external calling, your daily work. Perhaps you feel like you’re failing and unfulfilled.
Do you realize you can be a failure in the eyes of the world and be great in the eyes of God?
By God’s grace and through faith in Christ you can “be called great in the kingdom of heaven”. You can invest in eternity by becoming like Jesus. You can love, serve, and give to others by the enabling of the Spirit and enhance all three of your callings.
Through Christ, you can begin to build your eternal significance. The glory will always be his, but the joy will be yours both now and for eternity.
Michael Kanai
Michael received an MA in Sociology from the University of Central Missouri. And an M-Div from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 