Chosen

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us 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 ESV)

Recently, I was teaching about how we are new creations in Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17. In describing how we’ve been made new, I made the distinction that we have been given a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26 and 2 Peter 1:4), but we still wrestle with our flesh (where sanctification takes place throughout our lifetime). I gave the illustration that if I had been made new in my flesh already, I’d still have the glorious mullet God blessed me with in the late 80s. Of course, someone piped up and questioned if that was actually from God!  Haha!  

I think my wife would have agreed! 

The first time Jen (who is now my wife) met me in our freshman year of college, she was afraid of me. Her boyfriend at the time said a few disparaging things about me, and apparently, I looked a bit scary because of my mullet! But, after the second night of working together on the cheerleading squad (I was her male lifter), she returned to her dorm and called her mom.  She said, “Mom, I’ve met the man I’m going to marry!”  

As for me, I was pretty clueless about where we were headed. I was still at the “Wow, she’s cute!” phase of the relationship. It took me about a month to catch up, but I still remember that moment as clear as day! We were out on a walk one night, and I was pointing out different constellations. She pretended like she couldn’t find Orion, which I was pointing to, so I leaned in to help her see it. Suddenly, I realized, “Whoa, there’s a lot more here than just that she’s cute!”

About two and a half years later, we were married. I’m still grateful that, in spite of my mullet and the things she’d heard about me, she chose me! 

Paul says that God chose us even before the foundation of the world! We didn’t have a chance to be clueless because we didn’t even exist at that time. We were chosen in spite of God’s understanding that we would be dead in sin and rebellious against Him.  He chose us in spite of the many times we would fall, fail, or choose sin—even after we knew Him.  The fact is, He chose us! 

The verse goes on to say that the reason God chose us was to set us apart for Himself and His purposes, restoring us to a state of being unblemished at the core of our being. Why did He do this? Because he loved us… way before we had a clue. The passage in Ephesians goes on to say that God’s choice of us was for our blessing and benefit. Isn’t that the truth!

I can certainly relate. When I think about my relationship with Jen, blessed is a word that comes to mind. I am a far better man, husband, dad, and leader because of her. The Lord has used her in many ways to inspire, encourage, and challenge me to learn, grow, and lead. What a great example of how the Lord inspires, encourages, and challenges us!  
Dear Saints, rest in the truth that God has chosen you.  He chose you and set you apart for His purposes. He made you blameless (unblemished) before Him so that you can stay connected with Him while fulfilling His purposes for your life. And He blesses you as you walk with Him and get to know Him better. Allow the Lord to inspire you, encourage you, and challenge you to learn, grow, and lead others to Him. You’ll be glad you did… and better for it!