Call of duty is a legal term describing the necessity to carry out a job or duty. It is used many times to refer to important jobs, especially jobs that are in the service field such as police or military. How about in a believer’s life? I would argue that each one of us have been given a specific call of duty. It is critical that we find out what that call of duty entails. I’m sure you’ve read Matthew 22:1-14 many times. This is the parable of the wedding banquet. The king (YHVH) hosts a wedding feast for his son (Israel) and invites many guests, but these invited guests have no interest in coming to the wedding. They have everyday life to tend to and no time to heed or fulfill the call, the invitation of the king. Some of the invited guests murder and mistreat the messengers that the king sends to invite them, and this is a treasonous act. If a person harmed or killed a messenger of the king, it was a declaration of war because messengers were the extension of the king. Messengers came in the name of the king and were viewed as if they were the king himself. When the invited guests did harm to the messengers, the king in return killed the murderers and burned their cities. Eventually, guests did come to the wedding feast, but the parable ends with Y’shua stating, “many are called but few are chosen.” Y’shua was telling those listening that many have been invited but very few find themselves being among the chosen. We can come away with different applications of that last statement, but I would like to focus on the attitude of those who were invited but chose not to heed the invitation of the king. I view their attitude as disobedient, disrespectful, rude, rebellious, and treasonous. You might ask, “Joel how is that so they just decided not to go to a feast?” On the surface, that point can be made, but what is the attitude behind their decision not to heed the invitation? That is what we are looking at. Excuses and justifications can get a person in trouble at times. If you want to find yourself being among the chosen and not just an invited guest, then you must heed the invitation to fulfill your call of duty. There are many reasons why a person doesn’t fulfill their obligations and responsibilities when it comes to the Kingdom. I don’t have enough room here to mention them all, but I would like to mention a few areas that teens and young adults struggle with. These areas hinder people from walking out their call of duty. In order to find yourself among those chosen, you must be an overcomer. I want to share with you three steps that will initiate the process for you to fulfill your call of duty. The first thing you must overcome is your reluctance to lead. Everyone has been created to lead, and you accomplish this through serving your gift to those around you. I’m reminded of characters such as Gideon. When the angel of Elohim showed up and told him he was a a mighty man of valor, Gideon was hiding from the Midianites in a wine press threshing grain. He said, “I’m the least of my family and my clan isn’t all that great either.” Jonah went in the opposite direction that YHVH commanded him, thus running away from being a leader. Jeremiah and the Israelites all were reluctant to lead. This is common for people to experience, but if you are going to overcome being reluctant to lead, you must accept within yourself this may not be the destiny I would’ve chosen, but it is my duty and I will follow it through to the end. You must overcome accepting the words of the enemy in your life when he whispers to you what you are not. The God of Israel has something very different to say about than what the enemy does. The second thing you must do to initiate the process of fulfilling your call of duty is accepting your weakness. We all have weaknesses, but they shouldn’t deter us. Having a weakness is normal, and many characters throughout the Scripture demonstrate they were weak in an area or areas. Abraham’s – you know that guy that has the title of being the father of our faith – weakness was fully trusting and waiting on Elohim to fulfill the promise. Moses was chosen by Elohim to be the deliverer and lawgiver for Israel, but we see he was a hothead and tried to do things in his own strength when he murdered the Egyptian that was oppressing one of his Hebrew brethren. Peter is another example; he was prideful and wanted a place of position in the “new Kingdom” that Y’shua had come to set up. At Y’shua’s trial, Peter denied the Messiah, but in the book of Acts after the resurrection it was Peter who stood up and preached a message of repentance that brought in thousands to the covenant that God made with Israel. The key to overcoming your weakness is learning from your failure and allowing it to become the foundation on which your success is built upon. The third step of initiating the process of fulfilling your call of duty is removing distraction from your life. A few examples of major distractions are social media, gaming, and unfruitful relationships. I know and understand we live in a digital age where social media is like having to have your coffee in the morning as soon as you wake up. You can’t seem to get your day kicked off if you don’t see what drivel your digital friends are posting. I’m not judging you because I’ve been entangled in the whole social media ordeal, also. There are those who spend hours and hours on video gaming and computers. There are many more distractions that we could mention, but the main point I want to make about distractions is very important. The key to removing distraction in your life is disconnecting, discipline, structure, and dedication. This isn’t something that is accomplished in five minutes either. It takes practice, effort, and commitment. Your flesh will not like it one bit of the way. One thing I can almost guarantee is when you go through the warfare and process of overcoming reluctance, accepting your weakness, and removing yourself from distractions, you are moving away from the invitation of being called to being among the chosen in order to fulfill your call of duty in the Kingdom. You’ve all been invited to partake in bringing in the great harvest. Don’t allow the enemy to lie to you any longer and keep you from reaching your destiny in life. Take a stand and believe what YHVH says about you and your life and move forward victorious, standing on the promises of what the Scripture says!