I asked AI bots to list the most common New Year resolutions. It turns out the bots aren’t smarter than you and I, at least on this topic. We already knew most resolutions tend to be about improving health, finances, relationships, and skills. What you may not have considered is these are downstream from something far more fundamental to who you are.
Upstream of self-improvement or course correction is your concept of calling. Your calling in life includes but is more than your work. It expresses something about your identity and purpose. It resonates with one of the ultimate questions: Who am I?
No greater calling exists, no greater purpose captures the soul, than to claim, “I am a child of God!” The Bible says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). Once you respond to the call to receive Christ as your Savior, you identify with Him as part of His family. To be a child of God is to be a follower of Jesus.
That is your primary calling. It cascades into other aspects of life, including relationships, finances, and health. It tempers your ambitions and gives hope in suffering. Life has stability and coherence when you stand on the solid rock of faith in Christ. He gives us a simple way to filter our responses to whatever life brings: love God; love neighbor.
David Bahnsen lost both parents by age 20. His book, “Full-Time,” explores how work and productivity are part of your secondary calling. He writes, “We were created to work, and our work provides unique meaning and purpose in our lives.” This calling was cathartic in Bahnsen’s life. Because his Christian parents taught him the value of work before they died, “by the grace of God, the traumatic event became very less traumatic for me.” He founded a financial firm that now manages $8 billion in assets.
Ken Isaacs believes your vocational calling may differ from your credentials. In his book, “Running to the Fire” he recalls feeling unqualified, like Gideon, Moses, and Peter. “I’m just a well driller,” he told God. Thirty-five years later, he leads international disaster relief at Samaritan’s Purse. He writes, “If God can choose to work through Ken Isaacs, a blue-collar common man from Boone, North Carolina, then why in the world would He not work in your life too?” He closes the book writing that we are called to follow Jesus. That means going where He sends.
Both Isaacs and Bahnsen link the primary call to be a Christ follower with how you live and serve. You must know who you are before you decide what you do. You won’t get that from an AI bot.