2 Corinthians 13:5 English Standard Version (ESV) Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Because we are all different it is conceivable that there are many ways to answer the question “Am I called by God?” Our perceptions vary, our needs vary, and our personal understanding of what is going on in our lives vary greatly. It is possible that a call from God for one of us sounds and feels different for others. There are different ways it is expressed by believers primarily based on their own experiences. If it rings true for others it is a help to answer the call. If what others tell us about their call does not ring true, it doesn’t mean God isn’t calling us.

Something in those twelve apostles compelled them to answer Jesus’ call to follow Him and there are no explanations of why “follow me” was sufficient to cause them to leave everything behind and follow Jesus. If there was one answer given that would leave no room for the rest of us to recognize God’s call to accept Jesus by faith. No answer leaves it up to each of us to examine ourselves to believe we are called.

Then comes the testing of faith. Has it done in us what is promised? That depends on our understanding of the promises of God and the expectations we develop based on those beliefs. At some point we may ask ourselves if we do indeed recognize Christ in ourselves. This is why we covered the issues of Christ in us and coming to know Him in all the aspects of His character and personality.

We will struggle with this because we are human, imperfect, vulnerable, and in many cases insecure. The fact that we struggle is a good thing if we accept we haven’t given up and given in to our weaker nature. That is why we test ourselves. No one can answer that question for us.

John 6:67-68 English Standard Version

⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,

What distinguished the twelve from all the other followers who stopped following Jesus? The answer to that question is the key to unlocking the door to our hearts by faith.

The twelve were approached by Jesus and answered a simple call, “follow me.” They got up and left their nets, tax tables, families, occupations and followed Jesus simply because He called them. There is no logical reason why they should do this. There was no promise of what was going to happen next. To any outside observer it made no sense, but to the men who answered the call, there was something so compelling about Jesus that they gave up everything to follow Him.

Yesterday’s reading was the example of what others, even if they begin to follow Jesus, give up and reject His offer of eternal life.

Jesus was speaking to Jews in their synagogue. His words challenged everything they believed in and were taught. He challenged their core beliefs as is seen in verses 60 and 61. They believed that the Messiah would come as spirit and not as a man. Their core belief said God would never occupy a human form. Now this man, proclaiming He is the Son of God, has asked them to violate what was up until this time the Law. They could not by faith eat His flesh nor drink His blood.

This is who they were and what they believed. For the rest of us that were not Jews and did not have those core beliefs, we have our own set of core values and belief which will be challenged. If we do not understand those simple gospel truths we will not know what is being asked of us.

It all comes down to this one challenge of faith. Are we called by God?