“God loved us and chose us.”
Have you ever been chosen to represent the team, receive an award, or hold a prestigious position?
Any type of chosen, selected, or handpicked feels good, doesn’t it?
Chosen is more than being accepted. To be chosen is a deliberate act. Chosen also expresses the motive that there is a purpose behind why you were chosen.
As children of God, we are intentionally chosen for a purpose, yet we often walk around aimlessly, feeling unimportant and irrelevant.
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:4-5, NLT, bold added for emphasis)
We are chosen.
You are chosen.
Can you sit for a moment and dwell on the truth of these statements?
God said, “I choose (your name).”
The Grace Factor
Chosen is chosen.
In God’s economy, there is no performance review or quotas to reach in His choosing us; there is only grace.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23, NIV)
For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift]. (John 1:16, AMP)
God chooses us out of grace. We don’t deserve to be chosen, but out of God’s abundant grace, He deliberately decided to select us!
How can this be?
God chooses us because of Christ, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV).
God planned from the beginning to reconcile us to Him through His Son. His grace precedes our birth into this world.
When we dwell on and believe the truth that we are chosen, every crack in our confidence is sealed solid.
Confidently Chosen
Chosen creates a humble confidence reflected in how we live our lives.
[In His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will. (Ephesians 1:4-5, AMP)
Living chosen realizes that:
- We are unconditionally loved.
- We are set apart and have a purpose unique to others but not superior.
- We were selected to be one of God’s own children and a sister or brother to Christ.
- We are free from our old life and welcome to receive our heritage as God’s daughter or son.
- We are not a burden or a charity case, but “This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:5b, NLT)
The truth of chosen leaves us with a choice.
Will we choose to receive an identity wrapped up in chosen and walk boldly forward toward all God has for us? Or will we stay stuck in the past, hurt from being unchosen by the world?
Again.
Can you give attention today to the truth that,
We are chosen.
You are chosen.
I pray that you boldly go before the throne of grace and ask God for all you need to walk confidently in who He has made you to be as one of His children. May you wrap yourself up in the blanket of being chosen and live freely in the abundance of His grace. So be it, in Jesus’ name.
Meditate: God said, “I choose (your name).”
Reflect: What comes to your mind when you hear the word chosen? Can you remember a time when you were not selected? Ask God what He wants you to know about your identity and being chosen. What does walking confidently chosen in Christ look like to you?
Deeper: (As you read through these additional verses, ask the Spirit to give you wisdom and teach you more about what living chosen looks like.) Ephesians 1:1-13 (reread the verses and mark all the “in Him” phrases. What are the benefits attached to the words, “in Him”?), 1 Peter 2:8b-10, Ephesians 2:4-10
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(Bible References: NLT – New Living Translation,NIV – New International Version, AMP – Amplified Version)
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