How to Fulfill the Calling?

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Part 4 of the series. Preached in Spanish on October 24, 2026, at Iglesia Cristianos en Acción in Turbaco, Colombia. This is an English translation.

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Main text

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”

Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Jeremiah 1:4-10 (ESV)

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

John 15:16 (ESV)

Introduction

All of us have been called by God to fulfill a purpose. Although each person is different and each life covers areas that make someone more useful in one role or another, which I call specific purposes, it is important to understand God's general purpose for the human race.

This post tries to answer one question: how do I fulfill the general purpose God has laid out for my life? Its aim is to strengthen the idea of God's calling on every life and to encourage a change of mindset to fulfill it.

1. Calling is equivalent to purpose

God called Samuel in a difficult time: Eli and his sons, who served as priests, were judged by God because of their sin (1 Samuel 3). Once called, Samuel began to carry out the ministry God entrusted to him and to lead the people. That ministry had a clear purpose, since God had set the Levites apart for himself:

“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine.”

Numbers 3:12

The priest was the means God used to speak to the people, and the people to God. If we define purpose as the goal one aims to achieve, we notice something important: that goal did not come from Samuel's own desire. It was God who gave him the purpose when he called him. That is why calling and purpose go hand in hand: when God calls, he also assigns what for.

2. Specific and general purpose

If a purpose is any goal we aim to achieve, we all have several. Day to day we set goals: to study, to get a job, to start a relationship, and even small things like cooking something we like or going to see a movie. The Bible shows us, however, that God establishes two kinds of purpose: a general one, for all humanity, and specific ones, for each person.

From creation, God gave human beings a general purpose:

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

Genesis 1:28

God also gives specific purposes. Abraham, Moses and David acted according to the purpose God laid out for each of them, and that particular purpose pointed to God's general purpose: to fill the earth with his glory.

• Specific purposes: a ministry, a profession, a family, a talent.
• General purpose: that God's glory fill the earth, that people become children of God and that we put aside the sin that controls us.

The general purpose is not less important for being general. On the contrary, it is the goal that all the specific purposes point to, and it is reached through them. It is like a project: you set one general objective and several specific objectives that, once met, make it possible.

3. The general purpose

God has a purpose for you, that much is certain. Maybe you have wondered: what am I doing here? Am I doing the right thing?

I don't know what God has planned specifically for your life: what your goal is, what you will stand out in. Even if you think you're good for nothing, of one thing I am convinced: you have a general purpose in Christ. And that purpose has already been given to you: we hear it every Saturday, we see it in the Bible and it surrounds us.

Summing up God's general purpose in a single sentence is a challenge, because God has revealed many things that are woven together throughout Scripture. Here are some of God's general purposes for you:

1. Keeping his commandments.
2. Not using crude language.
3. Honoring God.
4. Being diligent.
5. Being meek.

And many more. But above all, God says something that, to me, surpasses every possible explanation:

Your purpose and mine is to give glory to God

“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Isaiah 43:7

And this calling was given by God:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

God calls you! And that calling does not depend on what we have done, but on the One who calls:

“Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls.”

Romans 9:11

It is the same purpose Paul speaks of when he says we were “predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11), “according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11).

4. Fulfilling the general purpose

To fulfill the purpose of giving glory to God, we should pray for the following:

1. To receive Christ as our Lord and Savior.
2. To yield to God the areas of our life that are still more ours than his.
3. That God would make us worthy of his calling and fulfill his purpose in us by his power.

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power.”

2 Thessalonians 1:11

Scripture also reminds us what that calling aims at, where it comes from and how it is lived:

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

1 Timothy 1:5

“Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

2 Timothy 1:9

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness.”

2 Timothy 3:10

This week

1. Ask yourself: what do I put before God?
2. Ask yourself: what is my first thought when I wake up?
3. Read the book of Proverbs, one chapter a day. It has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month.

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Bible references

• Genesis 1:28: the purpose given to human beings from creation.
• Numbers 3:12: God sets the Levites apart for himself.
• 1 Samuel 3: the calling of Samuel.
• Proverbs 1–31: suggested daily reading for this week.
• Isaiah 43:7: created for God's glory.
• Jeremiah 1:4-10: God commissions Jeremiah.
• John 15:16: God chose us to bear fruit.
• Romans 8:28: called according to his purpose.
• Romans 9:11: the calling depends on the One who calls.
• Ephesians 1:11: predestined according to his purpose.
• Ephesians 3:11: the eternal purpose in Christ Jesus.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:11: worthy of his calling.
• 1 Timothy 1:5: love as the aim of the charge.
• 2 Timothy 1:9: called to a holy calling.
• 2 Timothy 3:10: a life that follows the purpose.

All Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV). The original sermon quoted the Reina-Valera 1960, the NBLA and the NTV.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.