Everyone wants to be chosen. To be loved exclusively, win an award, or be part of a group can be significant. Sometimes if a person is not chosen, they may give up living, or at the very least, give up in spirit. I admit. I’m one of those people. My lack of confidence makes it hard for me to wait patiently for someone to make a choice that affects me. In contrast, however, there are times when I need to make a choice to act in a way that will reflect my belief in God, and I am apt to hesitate.
Sometimes loving God is hard to do. Fearing God, ignoring Him, or dismissing Him altogether, is more likely to be my response if I act on my own. There are times when maintaining an attitude of anger toward God seems easier than loving Him. The reason for this often cycles around a specific question. If God holds power over everything, then why do bad things still happen?
I should know better. From my study of the Bible, I have seen better phrasing of this question, and it goes something like this….
Why do men, who are not robots but are made in the image of God and given true freewill, choose to do bad things under The Deity who is all good and powerful?
Unfortunately, like many other people, I tend to stall on the first question, “If God holds power over everything, then why do bad things still happen?” When I get stuck on this flawed question, I find it hard to choose God and love Him.
Thankfully, God is in the business of “un-sticking the stuck.” He began “un-sticking” me when He went ahead of me, chose me, and loved me FIRST.
Psalm 135 reminds me of God’s practice of choosing people to be His own. The Psalm writer starts this 21-verse salute by challenging hearers to praise God for His goodness, grace and love and His practice of choosing people to be His own.
“Praise the Lord! For the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for He is gracious and lovely! For the Lord has chosen the descendants of Jacob for Himself, Israel for His peculiar possession and treasure.” Verses 3-4
These words reflect the days when Israel was the literal chosen nation of people who experienced a very public relationship with God in all the events and forms that God manifested. Israelites of the Bible times were also chosen as the nation that would have first-hand experience with Christ the Savior. They heard promises and predictions about Him, experienced symbolism of Him and finally received His actual presence and watched His death and resurrection. However, even during those days, people who were not Jewish who turned to God and trusted Him ALSO became a “chosen” person of God.
If I look at the whole teaching of the Bible, I can’t deny what I see about God’s practice of choosing people. Every story points to the fact that no matter what someone may have done, ANYONE with a beating heart in his or her chest can become a chosen person of God.
Still, the process of being chosen by God is incomplete unless I accept His choice of me. Not unlike a woman who has received a proposal of marriage. The marriage won’t happen unless she accepts the offer.
God has said, giving us direction through the Bible, that if I want to accept His offer of being chosen, I must be sorry for the actions (sin) that I have committed that go against His boundaries and I must believe in Christ and what He did to pave the way for God to forgive me.
Here are verses about that in Romans 10:9,10
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
Here is another verse that tells what I am being saved from and saved for.
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Know this. If you are hungry to be chosen, look to God. He has already chosen you, but you must accept His choosing to become His chosen!
My Prayer
Blessing and praise to You, God, for choosing me to be one of Your chosen people. Help me to see my value through Your eyes. Thank you for not being an exclusive God, but one who includes all people if they would but choose You! You are amazing!