Do you like to be chosen? Does that depend on what you are being chosen for? Were you chosen as the first, last, or somewhere in the middle for kickball when you were young? How did it make you feel to be chosen in that position? Do you know you were chosen long ago?
Being chosen can make us feel very good about ourselves. As a middle schooler, being picked first for a kickball team was an acknowledgment that we were good. However, being chosen for tasks at work may mean performing the lowest level tasks and make us feel less appreciated.
The Apostle Paul tells the church in Ephesus that they were chosen before time began. They weren’t chosen by just anybody, they were chosen by God. The same is true for us. That may seem out of place. We may wonder how that meshes with free will. We can run down a rabbit hole and be more confused the deeper we go than when we started.
There is a very simple answer, though. Since God lives outside of time and can see every day at the same time, he knows our decisions before we make them. Because God knew our decisions beforehand, he knew he would have to send his Jesus to make atonement for our sins. Therefore, God chose us by choosing to send Jesus. He knew we may want to obey but were too weak mentally and spiritually to fully obey.
We can take solace and be joyful that God chose to send Jesus for us. We can be comforted in knowing we are holy and blameless before God because of Jesus. God knows we are weak. He reconciled us to him through Jesus because he loves us and wants us to be with him. So, do not worry, rather accept the peace of God that is beyond understanding.
I pray we all are happy we have been chosen by God. I pray we know that we are holy and blameless in Christ. I pray each one of us accept the peace of God into our lives. You were chosen by God before time began. You are blessed by God. You are holy and blameless. Accept God’s peace.
Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
Marty Pressey 