I stood in the grass behind Root Elementary School, waiting for my inevitable embarrassment. Two of my classmates stood facing the rest of us, wielding as much power as a 4th grader could hope for. It was time to choose teams for kickball in P.E.
I stink at kickball. Always have, always will. No one has ever been excited about the prospect of having me on any sports team.
Maybe you’ve felt the sting of rejection, too. It’s not just a 4th grade phenomenon. As a 40-year-old, I still feel left out, less than, and unwanted sometimes.
But Ephesians 1 gives us good news. Remember those spiritual blessings we talked about last week? Paul gives us more details as we keep reading:
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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (Ephesians 1:3-4)
God chose you.
God chose you in Christ—His choosing is based on what Christ has done, not what you have done. He chose you in Christ and for Christ, to be one of those whom the Father has given the Son (John 10:29).
God chose you before the foundation of the world—before you ever had a chance to show Him what a great pick you’d be. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 tells us that God chose a people to be His treasured possession, not because they were great in number, but just because of His love and faithfulness.
God chose you to be holy and blameless before Him, because He has exchanged Christ’s perfect record for your sin. We can have confidence before God because He chose to pull us out of our sin and reconcile us to Himself (Colossians 1:22-23).
No matter what you face this week, God chose you because of His love.
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