“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.“
Ephesians 1:3-4 (NIV)

I just finished up a week where I had the opportunity to share my book, In Christ Alone: Discovering Your Identity In Christ, with people at the North American Christian Convention.  The reaction of people to the content of the book was a great encouragement and confirmation to me.  Time and again, person after person would flip through the book and with tears in their eyes say, “This is exactly what I need and have been looking for!”  To be able to give them a copy helped me to experience the truth of “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”  

I believe the book connects with people of all ages and from all walks of life because it was written through my prayer times out of my own struggle with my identity.  Day thirteen in my book is a reminder that “In Christ I Am Chosen.”  This is a truth that many of us have a hard time accepting because it often feels like we are someone who no one would ever willingly choose.  I still remember lining up at recess or in gym class and just longing to hear that day’s “captain” say to me, “I choose you.”  I was rarely chosen last, but definitely not chosen first.  I still remember wishing that some day, even just one day, I would be chosen first.

But it is not just in grade school where the picking and choosing takes place and we long to hear someone say, “I choose you.”  We fill out applications and polish up our resumé hoping an employer will choose us.  We look for that special person to be in our life who would choose us above all others.  We speak up wanting our voice — our opinion — to be chosen as the way in which a group would go.  When we’re chosen, we celebrate.  But when we’re not chosen, look out!  The thoughts of doubt and feelings of being unwanted creep in and before you know it they have taken over the mind.  It is at those times I need reminded that I was chosen and I was chosen first!  Before creation God chose me to be His and for me to live a holy and blameless life.

People will disappoint you.  There will be times you will expect to be chosen and find yourself overlooked.  There will be times that you seem to be chosen by others only to find that it was a temporary choosing simply to use you for their benefit and then you’re gone.  There will be times when people choose poorly.  There will be times when you choose poorly.  In all of it, I need to be continually reminded that God never disappoints those who seek Him with a whole heart.  He says that when we seek Him with a whole heart, He will be found.  And when we seek and find, we discover a welcoming Saviour who is calling out, “I choose you!”

In prayer,
Tom