Read: Ephesians 1:1-6
For he chose us in him. (v. 4 NIV)
Do you remember a time when you were chosen for something? Maybe you were chosen for an athletic team or musical group. Or perhaps you were chosen to read in class or join a club. How did that make you feel? Special? Loved? Wanted?
As an adoptee, I was often told that I was special, loved, and wanted because my parents chose me. But God chose me first, as our passage says. Before the creation of time, I was chosen. I was chosen in Christ; I was chosen in love.
God chose Abraham to be the father of all nations (Genesis 17). He made his covenant with him, pledging his love and making a people for himself. He became their God; they became his people. He chose them as his very own. Moses reminded God’s people, “The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deut. 7:6-7 NIV).
God’s people didn’t have to earn his love or jump up and down pleading, “Choose me, choose me!” He chose them because he first loved them. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Because of Christ, we belong to God, and he belongs to us. We were chosen in Christ. We were chosen in love! —Nancy Boote
As you pray, thank God for choosing you.
About the Author
Nancy Boote, an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of America, lives in Holland, Michigan, with her husband.
