“FROM PAUL, a bond servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) called to be an apostle, (a special messenger) set apart to [preach] the Gospel (good news) of and from God…” – Romans 1 v 1 (Amplified)

Within this verse lies a fundamental principle. It is interesting how before Paul mentions his calling to apostleship, he mentions his relationship with Christ. The word that he uses to express this relationship is that of servant, a word that perhaps some would consider to have a negative connotation. In fact, this relationship of servant and Master simply expresses how believers ought to submit to Christ, placing the will of God before their own, obeying Him above anything or anyone else. Such is a relationship founded on love, serving Him being a joyous and sweet pleasure. What I would like to focus on here is how our relationship with Christ needs to come before anything else, even a calling. Paul understood that in order to be effective in his calling, He needed to be strong in His relationship with God. Prayer, worship and meditating on Scripture gave him the strength, wisdom and mindset to effectively achieve whatever tasks were set before Him. Without this sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and clarity of thought, the challenges he faced would have been overwhelming.

Many people are so busy in their daily lives that they neglect spending time alone with the Lord, both in prayer and studying His word. Often we justify this by convincing ourselves that we are working hard in order to shine as effective witnesses for him in the workplace, using our talents to glorify Him and earning money to support our families and sow finances into the Kingdom. Even people in fulltime ministry can neglect their private time with the Lord, excusing such by arguing that their hard work is directly building the Body of Christ. However, what we need to realize is that our effectiveness is intrinsically linked to the intensity of our relationship with God. In order to truly excel, we need to be sensitive to His voice leading and guiding us in our decisions, allowing Him to fill us with peace when under pressure, joy when struggling with anxiety, love when angered by unruly people or circumstances. Such sensitivity to His Spirit hinges upon a close relationship with Him, and working on this relationship needs to be at the top of our priority list!