When people think of their "vocation", they might be prompted to think of a career they want to have someday but further than that the word simply has lost its power. Today the word has been associated almost synonymously with occupation, like a job, but originally vocation had more to do with a summons or a calling than with employment. Furthermore, because the word was to be associated with calling it implied a call, but from Who and to What? Webster's New World Dictionary traces the word back to referring especially to a divine or religious calling....It has always impressed me to find believers who were motivated by a divine calling either to missions, the pastorate, or some sort of ministry in the church or to something outside of the church, such as a business owner. However, I have also been disappointed and somewhat surprised with the volume of believers who seem to have no vocation or calling at all. Some people even seem bored, aimless, and with no real "purpose" in life. But, in Christ, purpose is essential because we have been converted with a purpose, a great purpose......Because I became a new man, I had a new mission, or as I have stated above, a new vocation, a divine calling to glorify God.....A redeemed son or daughter of Adam is given a new heart, a new mind, and a new mission and purpose......Regardless of Paul's apostolic authority, he was no "Lone Ranger" Christian. Regardless of his imprisonments and persecution, he was no "Lone Ranger" Christian. Even when he had his apostolic authority undermined by disingenuous preachers he did NOT isolate himself from the local church. This is an amazing fact considering that some "professing" believers disregard the importance of the local church altogether......Scripture brings into suspicion the Christianity of anyone who is not connected and submitted to the authority of the church (Heb. 10:23-27). To be on a "Lone Ranger" path in the Christian faith is to be on the path of apostasy. Yet few take Hebrew's threat seriously.  ~~Emilio Ramos