Chosen by God

Anyone who has ever been elected to a team that participated in a game or anything that affects other candidates knows the feeling of being the chosen one. It gives you the feeling of being favored and preferred. On the other hand, most of us also know the opposite, not to have been elected, you feel ignored and rejected.

God, who made us the way we are and who understands these feelings, emphasizes that his choice of Israel as his people was carefully considered and not accidental. He said to them, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be his people, his treasured possession, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.” (5.Mose 14,2)Other verses in the Old Testament also show that God chose: a city, priests, judges, and kings.

Kolosser 3,12  explain that we too, like Israel, have been chosen: “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that you have been chosen (as his people)” (1. Thess. 1,4)This means that none of us were an accident. We are all here because of God's plan. Everything He does is done with purpose, love, and wisdom.

In my last article about our identity in Christ, I put the word "choose" at the foot of the cross. It is something that I believe is at the core of who we are in Christ and also crucial to spiritual health. If we go around believing that we are here by some whim of God or the rolling of a dice, our faith (trust) will be weak and our development as mature Christians will suffer.

Each of us must know and believe that God chose us and called us by name. He patted you and me on the back and said, "I choose you, follow me!" We can have faith in knowing that God chose us, loved us, and has a plan for each one of us.

What are we to do with this information, other than feel warm and fuzzy inside? It is the foundation of our Christian life. God wants us to know that we belong to Him, that we are loved, that we are wanted, and that our Father cares for us. But it is not because we have done anything. As He said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 7:7, “It was not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord delighted in you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all the peoples.” Because God loves us, we can say with David, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42,5)!

Because we are chosen, we can hope for him, praise him and trust him. We can then turn to others and radiate the joy that we have in God.

by Tammy Tkach