CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BE CHOSEN!

One of the great things about Christmas is spending time with your family. I am so blessed because I know I am loved by my family. In particular, my two oldest sons hold a special place in my heart. I married their mother when they were in elementary school. Both are now in their twenties and living on their own. That they choose to call me dad is, to me, a testimony of God's grace and sovereignty in my life.  Knowing that God loves us and has chosen us is at the heart of our faith. 

"For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you." I Thessalonians 1:4

These two fundamental truths set us solidly in Christ. Knowing that God loves us and that he chose us assures us that he will keep us.

It is not just the truth that "For God so loved the world"(John 3:16), which is wonderful enough. He died for you. Your sins. God loves you. God sent his one and only Son to die on your behalf so that he could have a relationship with you. Sin separated you from God and Christ paid the penalty, taking away the separation, so that you could have a relationship with God as his child. 

Sometimes I like to watch "Storage Wars". It is entertaining to observe the buyers choose a unit and then rummage through it, hoping to find something of worth. That is pretty much opposite of how God chose you and me. We are told that, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other." (John 15:16-17). God didn't just randomly pick a group of sinners and hope that a few would sort of work out. No. He specifically chose you to make righteous and holy in Christ.

Father, thank you for choosing me before the foundations of the world. Thank you that you choose to redeem me and make me holy and righteous in Christ (I Corinthians 1:30). Thank you that I can be confident that you began a good work in me and will bring it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Open my eyes to see you at work in me. Praise be to you in us today!