“Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you.” (The Message)
There is a Latin word—vacare—meaning “to call.” This is the root from which we get our word vocation.
Usually when we ask someone about his or her work, we ask: “What do you do?” or “What’s your job?” It is a rare thing to ask someone, “What is your calling?”
Yet, more and more, we do hear these concepts being batted around in the board rooms and in business conversations. People, it seems, are looking for meaning in what they do. People want to have a calling. They don’t just want a job.
Our teenagers feel this, too. They want to have a purpose to what they do.
The happiest people I know are the ones who have discovered their calling—not simply what they do best but the very thing that energizes them and gets them up in the morning. Much of a person’s calling has to do with his or her gifts and talents.
Discussing vocation with teenagers is important. After all, Jesus called people to follow Him, but He affirmed the gifts they possessed. He told the fishermen they still would still be using their gifts. They still would be fishing, but of a different sort. All of our gifts are needed to make a create church. A great place to begin is with two questions: What do you do best? What is your calling in life?
