The last post focused on our need to pray for strength to comprehend God’s love (Ephesians 3:16-19). I hope you have been able to incorporate this request into your regular prayer routine! As we continue to pray for this strength, we’ll focus our attention on specific ways God’s love for us is made known in His word. For today, let’s focus on the word, chosen.
One amazing aspect of God’s love for us is that He has chosen us to be His. Ephesians 1:4-5 makes God’s electing love very clear: “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”
Remember: before Christ made us his own we were spiritually dead. This means we were unable to respond to God- unable to choose Him. But God. Because He loved us and chose us, He made our dead hearts alive (Ephesians 2:5) and drew us to Him (John 6:44). Now, before we get a big head, we must also know that God’s choosing was not based on any merit or effort of our own. As the Apostle Paul stated in Romans, it was not because of good or bad that we would have done, but because of God’s will and mercy (Romans 9:11,16,18)
The Apostle John echoes this truth. In Revelation 13:8 he tells us that before the foundation of the world, God wrote our names in the Lamb’s book of life. Think of it! Before we even existed- before we could do any right or wrong- our names were written! Additionally, Psalm 139:16 affirms that He knew us before we came to be; that before we were born, He saw our unformed substance. In His love, He chose to call us His own (Psalm 71:6, Psalm 22:9).
Spend some time reading the verses mentioned above. Praise God that He is sovereign over everything, including our salvation. Praise Him for His good and perfect will. Praise Him because He is holy and good. Thank Him for setting His love upon you and for writing your name in the Lamb’s book of life.
*I also encourage you to check out the song “Before the Earth was Formed” by Brice Davis on Youtube or Spotify. This song is a beautiful way to praise God for His electing love 🙂
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