Beauty of Being Chosen!

it's very hard for a kid in today's culture of sports and activities not to come across times when captains are selected and the anxiety of being chosen begins.  Now in my own experience, if I was good at the sport, it always felt great to see the disappointment of the other captain's face when he couldn't choose me, while at the same time, it was very difficult to swallow my pride when I was chosen last. It was as if people were bluntly telling me that I was not wanted and the feeling of rejection pierced my heart!

This desire to be chosen (or the feeling of not being chosen) does not only find itself in games and sports, but also in love!  How beautiful and exciting it is when you fall in love and the person you have fallen for has also chosen you!  I recently had a friend, on the day of her wedding say to her spouse, "I choose you!"  The words every spouse wants to hear from their loved ones.  All love stories are based on the idea of being chosen by the other.  

This desire to be chosen is no different in the areas of our faith!  It is also an area that we constantly forget about!  We need to remind constantly that the Lord, God has chosen us!  I recently came across the following quote:  

"This is one way of stating the difference between gods and men.  Gods choose; men are chosen.  What men lose when they become as free as gods is precisely that sense of being chosen, which encourages them, in their gratitude, to take their subsequent choices seriously" - Philip Rieff, The Triumph of the Therapeutic

In a society with strong emphasis on freedom, we have become as free as gods (being able to choose many things in life).  But by being caught up in the ability to choose, we actually lose something very important; the excitement of being chosen.  This story of the human person isn't new!  Actually we see this explained in the story of Adam and Eve, where the serpent tempts them to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that they would become like God!  In grasping after that freedom, they lose their identity of being chosen as God's children.  

The Christian faith reversing the conditions of the fall points to this redeemed reality - that God has chosen us!  John 15:16 - "You did not choose me, but I who chose you!"  God has chosen us!  God who is love, has revealed his love for us in Christ!   He sent his only Son for us!  God continually chooses to bring us into communion of persons in the Trinity. This simple understanding should leave us speechless, smiling, and finding great joy!  

If we are struggling to smile or finding ourselves with lack of joy, we need to remind ourselves of those times that God's love has been revealed his love for us, we were reminded of being chosen.  We need to remind ourselves of the story of Christ, when God made the decision to act within human history and intervene on our behalf and reveal His love for us!  

Let us call to mind John 15:16 - "You did not choose me, but I who chose you!" and proceed to jump and down in excitement!  God has chosen us!