If Sacred Scripture is God's word, and vocation is God's call, his personal word to us, there is obviously a correlation. There is much in Sacred Scripture that will help us perceive and answer our own call.  

creation and call 

So much of Sacred Scripture has to do with vocation because God has done everything by his word. Even going back to Creation, it seems that he is always calling out. Over and over he calls things to him. He calls his creatures into existence: there is no light, God calls, and the light becomes present; there is no order, God calls and things fall into place, each one where it was meant to be. God creates by calling.  

Thus from the outset of scripture we have the tremendous, commanding (literally), creating, effective voice of God: Let there be... Let there be... And it came to pass. When it comes time for man, the story is a little different in form, but in fact it is the same. As he breathes life into the clay of the earth it is a powerful command, a call to life, to a participation in his own life.  

the drama of wills 

And then, just page through Scripture and you will see two wills at work: the divine will and plan, and then the human will which is enmeshed and enslaved in its own plan, dictated by the immediate needs of passions and ambitions, a narrow view that takes it so far from God's path. You will find a summary of this in Psalms 78 and 106. 

a call at the service of his will 

How does God choose to make his will effective, to get, as it were, his own way? 

He does it through chosen people, individuals. When he intervenes directly (Red Sea, plagues in Egypt, miracles of Elijah against prophets of Baal...) it is only to back up the action and message of the one he has chosen to proclaim his message and to do his work.  

And this person, though chosen, has to respond freely.  

Vocation and response are a single thread that runs through the whole of Scripture. Vocation and response of the people of Israel, vocation and response of individuals. 

You can read the whole of Scripture from this angle and God will speak volumes to your soul in the process. You will learn much about him, his ways and yourself. So, independently of whatever ideas I give you in the following pages, you should make the journey through Scripture yourself. 

What follows are just some of the truths you will find. In each point, I will give you a few quotations which we will comment on. Your own reading will help you discover many more scripture passages related to these. Write them in the margin and make the book your own. Most probably, as you go over these points and read scripture, you will find many more points for reflection. If so, the book will have served its purpose - to get you started.