By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command …
Hebrews 11:3
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Psalm 33:6
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3
Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?
Job 38:12
Modern responsibility, contradicting its origins, is all “responsibility for” and no “responsibility to.” Put differently, calls to modern responsibility lay heavy burdens on us. We are told we are responsible for ourselves, for our personalities, for our bodies, for our futures, for our families, for our communities, for our environment, for our societies, and for the planet Earth. For modern, secular, freedom-loving people responsibility to God is out of the picture.
Os Guiness, The Call
All the shrewdness of ‘man’ seeks one thing: to be able to live without responsibility.
Kierkegaard
We are responsible because we are response-able.
Os Guiness, The Call
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:1-3
For you granted the Son authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
John 17:2
Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Matthew 8:26-27
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:1-4
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you SAY SO, I will let down the nets.”
Luke 5:5
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
Luke 5:6-7
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Luke 5:9-10
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Luke 5:10-11
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. THEREFORE go and make disciples of all nations …
Matthew 28:18-19
Today we must make responsibility real at a time when accountability is down and alibis are up. Responsibility is obedience by another name. We do not have the excuse of the careless silence of those without a Caller.
Os Guiness