Called

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:1-7
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Called
We all wear many hats in our lives: parent, child, employee, employer, friend, neighbor. And in all these vocations, we are to live a life pleasing to God according to His will. Yet these vocations don’t ultimately define who we are. The apostle Paul reminds the church in Rome of this as he begins his letter to them. Paul affirms three callings from God: he is called to be an apostle, the Romans are called to belong to Christ, and they are called to be saints. This is what defines them and us. We sinners are prone to think that we can control every aspect of our lives, and we tend to live only for ourselves. Knowing the futility of this, Christ Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross so that we might be redeemed and reconciled to the Father. He calls us out of sin and death and into life. For this, it is our duty to give Him thanks and praise. We are called to belong to Him and to love and serve others. Thanks be to God that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has made us His own and continues to give us all His good and gracious gifts.