Chose
“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit.” ~ John 15:16
I was usually the last one chosen for sports teams during elementary school recess. Back in the day, the captain of each team would take turns choosing players. Raised hands and shouts of “Me!” echoed until they grudgingly accepted the final leftover people.Kids like me. Chubby. Nonathletic. Slow runners.
Is it any wonder I spent much of my life silently pleading, Choose me?
And then one day I realized that Jesus had. He’d chosen me —“I chose you.”
Choose in the New Testament Greek is eklego, which means to “select, especially with the motivation of love and kindness.” God’s grace is a gift to all and, as we embrace it, we each become a chosen one—specially selected. The question becomes, will we choose to accept this gift?
Do you realize you have been chosen? Or are you still raising your hand and trying to get His attention by doing stuff to make yourself worthy?
Mary DeMuth once struggled with trying to be like someone else in order to be chosen: “Being rejected means we have no worth. Being chosen means we have it all. So we contort ourselves in whatever impossible positions we can to make ourselves chooseable. We let go of our will, conform our lives to make others approve, and lose our personalities at the altar of being picked.”
Her success does not mean my failure.
It is only when we know ourselves as beloved that we can settle down as fully desired and chosen members of the Jesus Team. Secure. Serene. Loved.
God says to you today, “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.” Isaiah 41:9
You and I are not rejected – we are chosen!
BENEDICTION: My child, you are My first choice! Not a consolation prize, but a treasure. Because I know the you deep inside, I can see all your potential and possibilities. Will you rest in that knowledge today? Stop looking to everyone else. I’m calling you forth.
Every Blessing, Lucinda
“Helping You Choose a Life of Serenity and Strength”
©2022 Lucinda Secrest McDowell www.LucindaSecrestMcDowell.com
Lucinda Secrest McDowell is a storyteller and seasoned mentor who engages both heart and mind while “Helping You Choose a Life of Serenity & Strength.” She has authored 16 books including “Soul Strong – 7 Keys to a Vibrant Life” , “Life-Giving Choices – 60 Days to What Matters Most,” “God’s Purpose for You,” and “The Courage to Write.” (Purchasing my books here benefits me as an Amazon associate.) She writes from “Sunnyside” cottage in New England and shares encouraging words weekly at LucindaSecrestMcDowell.com
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What a good word, Cindy. I will CHOOSE to live today as a chosen person. Praying for you as you serve so many in Grand Rapids.
Thank you so much! What a good word in a good season this is to me following a misunderstanding I have interpreted as a rejection.
Beautiful word! It’s one I chose when I adopted 3 boys.