Years ago, our church was in the middle of a huge building project, and I was burned out. I got a call one morning from the church. “Pastor, the contractors are going to walk off the job if we don’t pay them immediately.” We needed hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was the last thing I needed to hear, honestly. “Okay, I’ll come in,” I said.

As I got ready to go, I felt a whisper in my heart: “Where are you going?”

At first I thought it was something fanatical.

“Don’t go,” I sensed. “Be with Me.”

I knew it was the Lord calling me.

“Calling” in the Bible can be individual (the particular plans God has for our lives) or general (truths that apply to all Christians). But there’s a first calling for all of us that is vital to understand.

The Bible says, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:13–15, NIV).

I want you to notice the first calling that was on the disciples—and is also on me as a pastor, and on you, if you’re a follower of Christ: Jesus called them “that they might be with him.” Then He would send them out to preach. Then they would have authority over evil spirits. But their first calling was to be with Jesus.

Back then that meant following Him. When Jesus stopped to eat, the disciples stopped to eat. When Jesus went to Capernaum, guess what? They went to Capernaum. When they had questions or problems, they brought them to Jesus and listened.

Jesus was not calling the disciples into relationship with Him—they already had that. He was calling them to be with Him.

People can easily have relationship with no fellowship. Abused children grow up, get out of the house, and years go by—maybe their whole lives—and they have no fellowship with their fathers. Do they have relationship? Yes. There’s a birth certificate. Do they have fellowship? No.

What does fellowship with God mean? It means that every day the Lord is saying to little, old, sinful you and me (but Christian you and me), “I want to spend time with you today.”

What an amazing thing—God wants to be with us! Why would He want that? When you love someone, you want fellowship with that person.

Fellowship with God involves worshiping, loving, adoring, listening, talking. We can tell Him, “This is what’s hurting me today, Lord. It’s just so heavy on my heart. I have to talk to someone.” As we have fellowship with Him, He lifts those burdens off us. He speaks to us through His Word and His Holy Spirit.

That day when I felt overwhelmed by our financial needs, I called the church office and said, “I can’t come in today.”

I went up to my attic and got a big Bible. I didn’t have the energy to pray, so I began to read. After a while, some faith started rising in my heart. I began to sing a little bit. I talked to the Lord. I listened. I spent the whole day up there with Him. When I walked out of my attic that evening, I was a new person! I had faith; the problems looked like little anthills.

As I came out, I got a call from the church office. “Somebody called today,” they said. “They committed the funds we need.” Not only was I a new person, but while I had been with God, He had changed everything—in me and around me.

Fellowship with God. Why don’t you and I take time to be with Jesus every day, starting today?

Prayer

God, give us the grace, discipline, and hunger to be with You. Help us to have not just relationship with You but also fellowship with You. Open our hearts to what You have to say to us today, Jesus. Amen!

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