Chosen to give all to Christ
FEBRUARY 19, 2008 (TUESDAY)
My maternal great grandmother gave birth to fraternal twins: Ed and Edna. Their sister was my grandmother, Gladys, whose daughter, Jessie, my mother, had fraternal twins, both girls, Elva and Melva. My son, Dan, was the father of twins, and one of them was born at 26 weeks, but the other, unfortunately, did not live long enough in the womb to be born. They were girls, and Angela is the survivor. Amanda would have been her twin. So, I guess there is something to the old belief that twins are usually born every other generation. I suppose that means that my generation’s grandchildren may be parents of twins. There’s a good chance, I suppose, because multiple births seem to be more common these days.
The first set of twins in the Bible were Jacob and Esau. They were obviously fraternal twins, because they were nothing alike. They were a study in opposites. God’s agenda at that time was to bring into the world a people who would eventually produce the Savior of the world. He, therefore, actively chose the twin who would become a part of that line. He overruled the rule that said the firstborn would have the birthright. For all practical purposes they were born at the same time, but God chose Jacob over Esau, who was born first. To this day, God is addressed by Orthodox Jews as “God of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” God had chosen Abraham first, then his son, Isaac, and now Jacob.
God chooses people for His purposes. He still calls people into His service. It is exciting to me to see young people responding to the call of God into the ministry. I recall talking with my pastor about my call, wondering if I should become a preacher. In response, the pastor preached a sermon on the text, “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high Priest.” — Heb. 5:4-5. The pastor made the point that the minister must be chosen of God, not a volunteer. I would be less than honest if I did not admit there have been doubts from time to time, but looking back at my life, there is no doubt now. I thank God for His call into the ministry, and I pray for all those being called today.