If you are convinced that God has called you into His service, then you must be faithful to the task he has placed before you. Imagine the horror of Isaiah hearing the call of God to proclaim the truth and then choosing to walk away into the Judean desert the first time he ran into difficulty. Imagine the tragedy it would have been if Timothy had pulled “a Demas,” and instead of exercising “the spiritual gift within” him (I Tim. 4:14), he chose instead to “love this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10).

Applications come into The Master’s Seminary nearly every day. For each of us who have the privilege to review these, every file that comes across the desk represents much more than paper in a manila folder. These files represent a diverse assortment of men from around the world, coming to TMS from different backgrounds, with specific stories, proclaiming distinct testimonies, possessing unique skills. Yet for all their variety, every one of these men share a commonality superseding their differences: they all believe that they are men of God called by God to do the work of God.

Men in the process of seminary application often have the same question: “As I respond to the call of God in my life to preach the gospel, what can I do now to be faithful to my calling while preparing for full time ministry?” There are a number of practical principles that Scripture provides in answer to this question.

Guard Your Calling

The very first thing you must do with your calling is to guard it. The Apostle Paul certainly understood the urgency of this when he set the example for every preacher in 1 Cor. 9:27. In this text Paul says, “I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.” Because a life disqualified is a calling discarded, the gravity of the task requires a certain sobriety of life. The call to preach the gospel is among the most precious privileges granted by God to men.

We all understand that it is wise to lock up your valuables. We put fences around our property and deadbolts on our precious possessions in order to protect them. The call to ministry is a precious possession worth guarding. It is for this reason that Paul instructs Timothy in I Tim. 4:16, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.”

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