Chosen

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain,…

(John 15:16, NKJV)

Let us for a moment go back to our childhood.  The days when there was little care in the world.  For most people, the parents took the responsibility to provide for all our needs and for those of us who were raised in up-country environments, a child’s day was full of play.  No worries that we played with, mud, dirt, make-shifts balls and dolls, it was all fun.  The highlight of the day was when other children joined in the game, making it competitive.  We could form teams of players as we understood our strengths and all children wanted to belong to a team.  This was and continues to be part of child  play even in schools, where the children bundle up as a team for a given game.  Then as it is now, there is great joy in being accepted in a team.  Children show this best, as they excitedly try to get the attention of the person choosing the team, they jump happily on being chosen.  The making of the teams can be both joyful and frustrating, joyful for those who get picked and frustrating for those who are left out.  I do not know about you, but I have memories of being chosen and others where I was not chosen.  Sadly, the experience that remains in one’s mind for long are not the times chosen but the times left out.  Some individuals who have been left out in experiences that they have really wanted to participate in, report being traumatized and fearful of offering themselves out again for consideration.  That is the impact of not being chosen.

 Our reference verse above are words by our Lord Jesus, declaring to us that He chose us.  Consider this for a moment, the Saviour of the world has qualified you and I to be chosen, He has hand-picked us for Himself, what a great privilege that I am chosen by the King of glory!!  Beloved, it is not for anything we have done that we are chosen, but by the love of God alone.  In other times and places, we are identified and accepted based on our abilities and what we bring to the table, but this is not so with the choice that Jesus has made.  He does not just choose us as His own, He takes time to equip us for the Kingdom.  He knows we are not qualified to carry forward the gospel of salvation and so after choosing us, He equips us (John 15:15).  Others will choose us for what we already have but Jesus prepares us to be those who He wants us to be.   Brethren, we would fail miserably in spreading the gospel of salvation if we were left to our own strength but glory be to God that through His Holy Spirit, He holds our hands through the journey. 

 There are times when we might doubt our calling and choosing, but Jeremiah reminds us that before we were formed in the womb, God had purposed the choice (Jeremiah 1: 5).  This is not just for Jeremiah but for you too, for Apostle Paul also reminds us that we are God’s workmanship chosen in Christ Jesus to do works (Ephesians 2:10).  The works we are to do are not random but were determined long before we appeared.  Apostle Peter names us as a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a holy nation set to show the excellence of our God (1 Peter 2:9).  The Israelites were specially chosen by God as His own and separated from all other peoples (Deuteronomy 14:2).  For us, we are not just chosen but enjoined to Christ Jesus the true vine, making us His branches who bear fruit worthy of the vine (John 15:5). The choosing we have received has an expectation of fruit.  Beloved, let us always remember the words that many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).  May we be those who express the joy of having been chosen by how  we carry out the mandate that we have been given. We are equipped to get right, the purpose of our choosing.

 Thoughts:

What is your reflection of this message?

How does the acceptance of being chosen influence your life?

When have you lived with the awareness of your choosing?