Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander was requested to write “Jesus Calls Us” in 1858 by her husband and Anglican clergyman, Rev. William Alexander. What prompted Rev. Alexander’s request was his upcoming sermon on Matthew 4:18-20, which can be summed up as “Follow Me”. There are several moments in the Bible where God reveals and requests.
This week we are diving back into Genesis 12: 1-12 where God calls Abraham to pick up everything and leave. This text in Genesis is echoed in Matthew’s gospel with the same promise of blessings coupled with this act of discipleship. Both scriptures remind us of the relationship that we have with the Trinity. God calls and we respond. God’s revelation is intentional and directional and our response in worship is to reflect this. As A.W. Tozer says in his book Worship, The Missing Jewel of the Evangelical Church: “We were created to worship, worship is the normal employment of moral beings”. Peter, Andrew, Sarah and Abraham worshiped the Lord through their obedient response.
This same charge is given to us. Will we follow Christ? Will we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit to guide us? Will we trust our God wherever we are called to go? Can we turn away, as Cecil Alexander wrote in verse 2, from this “world’s golden store” and be obedient?
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