Chosen

Saturday, July 28, 2001

Ephesians 1:5-6 – Long, long ago God decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. (MSG)

We could only choose one out of all the needy dogs at the animal shelter and we chose Grace. Tied up, pregnant and abandoned, left to die before the age of two, she had been discovered by a shelter worker just before birthing her second litter.

The puppies, being cuddly and cute, were quickly adopted, but there were no takers for thin-as-a-rail, worn-out Grace, until God laid it upon our hearts to adopt her for our very own.

With adoption came change for Grace. Love and acceptance, protection and joy entered her life, but along with these things also came a need for trust and obedience to us as her new master. Bit by bit, as she has come to recognize and accept our love and the stability it has brought to her life, she has also become all that she was meant to be.

Likewise, for us as human beings, when we begin to really understand and embrace the love and acceptance God offers to each and every one of us and the stability and blessings that His love alone can bring to our lives, we too experience change from the inside out, enabling us to become all we are meant to be in Christ Jesus: a chosen people, a royal priesthood.

Jesus, "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8) Why? So that not just one person might be chosen to receive salvation, God's grace, and be adopted into His very own family, but rather that salvation might be available to all who in humility and repentance believe and embrace through faith the saving power of Christ's life, death and resurrection.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You that through the work of Jesus we have received the wonderful opportunity of being adopted into Your family. As You have in love and grace chosen us for Yourself, empower us now day by day to continue to choose to love You back, not in our own strength but in and through the Spirit of Jesus and His strength. Now and forevermore in His name we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Lynne Phipps <lynnephippsatlin@gmail.com>
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada

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