“But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of Me, O Israel.” Isaiah 43:22
Dear Ones:
There are several instances in the Scriptures where the Lord tells certain individuals, or anyone who will hear, to call upon Him. To Jeremiah in prison, He would say, “Call upon Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.” (Jer. 33:3) Paul wrote to the Romans, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:13) What does the Lord mean by “calling” upon Him? And why is it so imperative?
It is very clear in Scripture that the “call” is a cry of the heart, one that is seeking God as the sole, unique object of trust. When Bartimaeus, the blind beggar heard that Jesus was passing by, he began to cry out: “Jesus, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.” (Mk. 10:47) Here is a man who is calling upon God, and this out of the consciousness of a need that he cannot meet, appealing to the unique, and only hope that he has…the Lord Jesus. Jeremiah confirms what must be the meaning of the seeking heart: “And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for me with ALL your heart.” (Jer. 29:13) Bartimaeus, like so many others, was an individual who would not be deterred by the crowd in seeking the Lord with his whole heart.
Why is it so very imperative to call on the Lord? And what keeps us from doing so with all of our hearts? In the story of the rich young ruler, we find a very sincere man who actually runs to Jesus, falls at His feet, and then asks the question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) The Lord Jesus, in dealing with this man, will bring him consciously before that which is impossible for him to do. He is called upon to sell all that he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and then to follow Jesus. As long as this sincere man will trust in his riches, or his goodness, he CANNOT follow Christ. Hence, he is faced with that which is impossible to him. What is the answer? It is calling upon Jesus for His mercy, and the grace to obey Him. But, does he do this? NO. He gets up and leaves very sorrowfully. You see, Christ alone can meet his need. As long as the young man thinks that he has the resources, or the know-how, to meet that need, he will not truly, and whole-heartedly, call upon the Lord for His intervention.
Despite the marvelous promises of God to Israel concerning a new beginning, she commits the same foolish error as the rich young ruler. She does not call upon the Lord. She has not come to realize that “…the things that are impossible with men, are possible with God.” As long as she believes that the “new beginning” can be realized by that which is possible with men, she will never experience the intervention of God. The same is true of the individual who sees the need for the “new birth,” or a new beginning in his or her life. As long as they will not call upon the Lord with all of their hearts, being fully persuaded that He ALONE can meet their need, then they will not know the intervention of God.
Dear Father, give us grace to truly call upon Thee for every need, for Thou alone art able to meet our needs. We appeal to Your mercy and grace in this moment, believing You to meet us where we are, in order to bring us to the place where you would have us be. We praise and thank You in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad