"To Be Called"

"Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:" (Psalms 129:1)

  What gives you the right? Probably the thing that sets people off the most, the thought of being less important and substandard. A really good example is that of Cain and Able; if you want to start at the very beginning, then that is a good place to start. Able did nothing wrong towards his brother, yet his brother was very offended by Able's sacrifice being honored by God and his sacrifice being rejected. Even when God spoke to Cain, Cain's heart was not changed but was made harder. His anger was, if you will, rooted in God's favoritism towards his brother. If he could only realize the goodness that could have come out of that, by simply becoming humble and being Second! Obviously it involves more than just that, but having to be second of two, the competition level is a little more intense. We could take the illustration a little further into the Book, say the way Joseph was treated by his brothers. Yes, they were upset that Joseph felt that he was better than them; but in reality, the anger they felt was also rooted in God's call upon their brother; just the thought that Joseph was chosen over any other of them. And Joseph never tried to do anything to purposely offend them, he was simply sharing the call that he felt upon his life. Who of any of them was willing to be Second? Do you see the pattern here and the reason Israel is hated so much? What is so bad about being Second? Isn't there any honor in being seen as Second? I can understand if you are curious where this is going, because the major character in this illustration is yet to be revealed. If you must know the secret to being really really important, it is actually to be the one that is considered Second; you cannot be called unless there is someone more important than you, to actually call you out...

"Then what's the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God. True, some of them are unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, "You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court."" (Romans 3:1-4) NLT