CHOSEN

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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him.

Ephesians 1:1-4a GNT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I think everyone likes to be chosen.

I remember games that would be played when I was a kid and sides needed to be selected. A couple of people would be designated as the team captains who would get to pick who they wanted. They would go back and forth with their choices until everyone was on a side. No one wanted to be the last person picked because we prefer to be chosen rather than passed over.

As I became an adult and entered the workforce, there would be Christmas parties every year and those parties so often had a lot of door prizes to give away. Everyone would be given a ticket as they entered the party and they hoped that their number might be called once the prizes were given out. In these instances, being chosen often carried with it a gift of value.

And more recently, I had the honor of being recognized for the quality of work I performed as a new state employee in my agency, being awarded the Rookie of the Year for the entire state in my job field. It felt really good knowing that my dedicated efforts and commitment to excellence were recognized as I was chosen for the professional distinction.

Yes, we like to be chosen but unfortunately, it doesn’t happen for everyone during this worldly existence. Countless people can go their entire lives and never know the thrill that comes with being singled out in some special way. Thankfully, our God doesn’t subscribe to the world’s ways for He wanted everyone to have the chance to be chosen. Look again at today’s verse from the first chapter of Ephesians:

Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Ephesians 1:1-4a GNT

Before a single human being was made, God had it in mind to choose them to be His own with only one condition attached.

They needed to believe in His Son Jesus Christ.

The scriptures tell us as much, right?

We are chosen to be God’s own but only if we choose to unite with Christ first, the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). In that same verse, Jesus affirms the truth found here in Ephesians 1:4 when He says:

No one comes to the Father except through Me,

Why did cause us to be His through a merger with Jesus?

Because He knew that through Christ, and through Him alone, a person would be made holy, set apart from the world’s ways. And because Jesus died for all sinners and saves anyone who simply believes in Him, He is the source of justification, the process of making His disciples just as if they had never sinned. In other words, Christ allows us to stand before God on judgment day as if we were without fault.

And it was all possible because we were willingly and willfully chosen by our God.

Friends, this news gives us great reason to rejoice and be glad. For our God loved us so much that He didn’t wish for us to perish and so He made the way for us to live with Him forever. All we have to do is believe in His Son Jesus as Savior.

In this life, leading into the one still to come, everyone gets the chance to be chosen in the best way possible.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.   

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com