(This is a script from one of our earlier Take Ten with Pastor Don podcast. The date was February 15, 2023.)

Welcome to Take Ten with Pastor Don. I’m Don McGarvey pastor of the Troy Mills Christian Church in Troy Mills, Iowa.

This non-denominational podcast is designed to help you see God in a more personal way.

The Apostle Paul challenges us in 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 “From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, {2} to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.”

The idea of being a saint is to have been put into a relationship with God and designated by Him as having a sacred purpose or special significance to Him.

Please don’t misunderstand the word as meaning “perfect” or “without sin.” If that was the case, none of us would be holy or be considered to be saints. Instead, we would be “aints.”

I had a friend who pastored in Oklahoma. One of his adult Sunday school classes was called, “Saints and ‘Aints.” It was a huge class and lots of fun. I don’ t know if that would work today or not, especially since most churches don’t believe in Sunday school any more.

There’s another word used in this verse that caught my attention as well. It’s the word “called.” Christ Jesus is the one doing the calling and He has called us to be holy or to be “saints.”

The idea behind the word “called” is that what we have been “called” to becomes our new identity. And we have all been called to become “holy” or to become “saints, people who are set aside for God’s purposes.

I would like to propose to you three ways we can maintain our sainthood.

First, we need to stay close to God.

John 15:4-5 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you…….{5} I am the vine; you are the branches.”

Some translators use the word “abide” instead of “remain.” The idea is that of something that is constant. It’s where we live as opposed to where we visit from time to time.

As we remain in Him, we will see fruit come about; changes in our thinking come about; and changes in our desires.

As we fulfill the goal of staying close to God, the second goal will become much easier.

Second, obey God.

John 15:10 “If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

Once again, we have the idea of remaining or abiding in Christ. It’s an on-going relationship. It’s more than Sunday morning, or a Small Group Bible study during the week. It’s a day-to-day relationship that we nurture and invest ourselves in through prayer, Bible reading/study, and ministry to others.

And if I understand correctly, obedience to God flows out of our relationship with God. The close we stay to Him, the more we become like Him. And the more we become like Him, the more we obey Him.

I also see another challenge embedded in this verse. In order to obey God’s commandments, we have to know what His commandments are. And the only ways we can know what He commands us, it to spend time in His Word.

The third component to maintaining our sainthood is loving others.

John 15:12 “My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you.”

When you read these words, they beg the question, “How did Jesus love?”

Let’s consider three ways.

First, He came to serve.

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Second, He gave Himself that we might have everlasting life.

John 3:16 “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Third, He is interceding with the Father, on our behalf.

Romans 8:34 “Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us.”

He came to serve. Who or where are you serving?

He came to die so that others will live. Who are you trying to influence for the sake of the kingdom?

He came to pray for us. Who are you praying for?

Just in case you are asking yourself, “why is he talking about these things?” Here’s why.

There are times when it’s easy to lose sight of what God has called us to be. Often we view our calling to be what we do for a living or what we do through our local church. But we are first and foremost called to be “saints” or called to be people who are in a 24 hour, seven day a week relationship with Christ.

That’s it for our Take Ten with Pastor Don podcast. We would love for you to follow us on your favorite podcast platform. So please hit the subscribe button. Thanks for doing so.

We’ll be back next Wednesday. Have a wonderful week.