The first call on your life is to come to Christ and to live in holiness and righteousness before Him all your days. All other callings stem from that. If you would like to know more about this first call of the Lord please take some time to view CrossCheck – an audio/visual explanation of the gospel of Jesus.

When you come to Christ confessing your sins and turning from them; He brings you into relationship with God the Father. He also gives you His Holy Spirit so that you can go on to serve Him for the rest of your life: “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 (NIV).

Each Christian is bound by the great commission – given by Jesus to His disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

But the part which each Christian will play in Christ’s service will be different. The specific works, tasks, projects and types of Christian service that the Lord will call you to do will be dependent on your day to day walk with Him shown through your:

• eagerness to receive and obey the Word,
• responsiveness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
• awareness of the spiritual gifts (the tools given by God to enable Christians to achieve God honouring spiritual objectives see 1 Corinthians 12)
• circumstances/opportunities/temperament etc. (Where God has placed you and the sort of person God has made you)

When seeking the Lord’s will it is always necessary to wait on Him in prayer. We must learn to discern His affirmation of things that are right and His contradiction of things that are wrong. When you consider specific areas of ministry the advice of trusted Christian leaders will also be helpful. The consensus of the Church leadership should affirm what you already know. (Where your strengths and weaknesses are, what gifts you might have even if they are undeveloped as yet).

We know from scripture that God has plans for all His children:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Those plans include being a part of the body of Christ so whatever you do you will need to work in concert with other believers (see 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). God gives gifts so that the Body of Christ might be built up from outside (through conversions) and from within (as the gifts are exercised so the church is edified). You will certainly have a role to play in this but you must seek God’s clear direction through prayer and wise counsel.