Called By God

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ’Here am I! Send me’ —Isaiah 6:8

God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “. . . who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “. . . who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”

Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard-”the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”

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被神選召

我可以差遣誰呢？誰肯為我們去呢？我說，我在這裡，請差遣我。 （賽六8）

神並沒有直接呼召以賽亞，是以賽亞聽到神在說：[誰肯為我們去呢？ ]神的呼召不是單為特殊幾個人而發，而是對每一個人的。聽不聽見神的呼召，要視乎我耳朵的狀況；而到底聽見什麼，則視乎我的性情了。 [被召的人多，選上的人少。 ]意思是：很少人有被選上的條件。被選上的人，是藉著耶穌基督與神建立關係，以致性情改變了，耳朵開通了，就听見那微小的聲音不住地在問：[誰肯為我們去呢！ ？ ]神不是特別指著一個人說：[聽著，你去吧！ ]神並沒有強逼以賽亞；以賽亞只在神跟前，剛好聽見他的呼召，覺得沒有別的話可以回答，就甘心情願地說：[我在這裡，請差遣我。 ]

別以為神會催逼你，懇求你！ （把這意念出去吧。）當日主呼召門徒，也沒有從外面施予無法抗拒的壓力。他只是平靜而熱切地要求[跟從我]，是對那些理智清醒能以自主的人發出的。我們若讓聖靈帶我們與神面對面，也會聽見類似以賽亞所聽見的——神微小的聲音；也會自然而然地回答說：[我在這裡，請差遣我。 ]

祈禱◆噢，主啊，我的靈在你面前敬拜，因著你賜給我的浩大恩典，我的眼睛能夠看見、我的耳朵能故聽聞、我的心靈能故明白，在一切境況的背後，皆有你的腳踪。