Everyone today that is old enough to have a cell phone understands the term “Block” in reference to the inordinate and excessive number of phone calls we get from unwanted solicitors that are unwelcomed, unsolicited, and just plain annoying. There are many “Apps” such as Nomorobo, Hiya Caller ID and Block, RoboKiller, Truecaller, and YouMail Voicemail & Spam Block—that strive to block telemarketing calls and some work better than others, but to date not one can block every call. As annoying as these callers are, the one thing we all have learned to do is hang up. Sadly there are some callers who are legitimate and because of all the conditioning by the others, we tend to block everything, and hang up on them, and often just won’t answer the call and sometimes miss out on a great opportunity.
Spiritually speaking many people put a “Block” on God or won’t even answer Him and will even hang up on Him. Do not misunderstand me, you will never get a physical phone call from God. His call will be through the words of inspiration as they are recorded in the Bible and spoken by His people. So, how do you block God’s call? By turning your back or stopping up your ears when the people of God try to speak to you from God’s word.
Unlike the many choices your phone offers to block calls there are some calls that cannot be blocked, calls that we “MUST” answer. For example, the call to be born. Solomon wrote, “a time to be born…”, (Eccl. 3:2). We did not have a say, nor any control over the circumstances of our physical birth. You can’t say, not now, I changed my mind, or why didn’t you consult me first? We are simply born into this world and “like it or not” always comes after the fact. While we are alive, we must accept the gift and learn to make the best of the life we have been given. One part of that reality is to seek the Creator, and His offer of eternal life while you have breath. David advised his son Solomon, “If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever” (1 Chron. 28:9). Answer the call or be “cast off forever”.
While you have life you will receive other calls such as the Gospel Call. This call will come to everyone where there exists a Bible or a Christian. Christian’s who make up the Lord’s body, His church are commanded, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). You don’t have to be a “preacher”, both men and women can go tell others the good news about Jesus’s death, burial, resurrection, and the redeeming power of His “precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Refusing to hear your friends speak the message of salvation is one way to “Block God’s call”. God has also chosen men to “preach the gospel” (2 Tim. 4:2), to call all mankind to obey the truth. Paul said, “to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). The Holy Spirit revealed, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). God is calling you through the word preached and if you block His call, refuse to answer or hang up, know this, you are not possibly missing out on some great opportunity, your condemning your soul to an eternity in Hell.
Remember that Solomon wrote, “A time to be born”, well he contrasted that with “a time to die” (Eccl. 3:2). This is another call that you must answer, you have no choice, no say in the matter it is the Call to Death. The apostle to the Hebrews penned, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die…” (Heb. 9:27). Death will come, sooner or later to everyone, save the Lord’s return. Of this Solomon wrote, “For the living know that they will die…” (Eccl. 9:5). Knowing this, shouldn’t we do as Isaiah advised, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (55:6). Death is inevitable and must be weighed when you are considering whether to block God’s call or to answer it. The call of death is certain. Are you ready for this call to come? There are two more calls that come after death which you will answer.
First there is the Call of the Resurrection. On a Day predetermined by God alone there will be a call that every soul alive or dead, past or present will have to answer. Of this call John wrote, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). Think of it this way. Sometimes you sit by your phone waiting in hopeful anticipation for it to ring. Maybe you are waiting for a spouse stationed overseas, an old friend, the bank confirming your new home loan, or “you got the job”. The moment the call comes you pick up the phone without hesitation, you are excited, and relieved. Compare that to the call you never want to answer, from the hospice care center, from the police your child has been arrested, from a lawyer your spouse wants a divorce you didn’t get the job, your loan payments are overdue, or your home is being foreclosed, you are nervous, fearful, feeling boxed in, wishing you were somewhere else, someone else, anxiety and worry set in, you wish you could escape it all. When the call of Christ comes on that Day of Resurrection—how will you feel knowing what you know today? Will you be excited, or will you wish you could escape it all?
The second of the final calls will be the Call to be Judged. The Apostle writing to the Hebrews clearly relates this message saying, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Paul warns in his letter to the Romans that you will not “escape the judgment of God” (Rom. 2:3). God is calling you and if you chose to block Him, to not answer or to hang up because of “your hardness and impenitent heart” (2:5) you are storing up “the righteous judgment of God” (2:5b). Ready or not, after death and at the resurrection, there will be the call referred to as the Day or Judgment.
Have you blocked God’s call? If you have breath, it is not too late to pick up and answer the call. Know this, God has been overlooking your ignorance but, “now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). Jesus, the Son of God was raised from the dead, of that day many witnesses have testified. Our risen Lord and King has made it clear that He will return and on that Day Judgment will fall upon all nations and every soul. You will be there, I will be there, all of us will be there! “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Every individual will answer this call, and “…then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).
Jesus came to call “…sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Won’t you please answer the call?
In Love
David Scarpino
