You Are Chosen

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9 NIV

We all desire to be chosen.

Remember elementary school days when the gym class played team sports? The P.E. teacher would appoint two kids to pick sides. The rest of us would wave our hands frantically, calling out, “Choose me! Choose me!”

Or in our early teen years, girls and boys would stand on opposite sides of the dance floor. We girls would wait, some impatient and others nervous, while the boys chose whom they would ask to dance. Every girl’s heart cried out, “Choose me!”

When a young woman reached the age of marriage, she hoped the right man would choose her to be his wife. Wearing a wedding band symbolized that she had been chosen from all others to love and be loved by her husband.

Jesus has a love letter written in red for each of us. He assures us:

You are chosen.

The Bible has many examples of everyday people being chosen for great things in God’s Kingdom.

Mary, Mother of Jesus

Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.‘

Luke 1:30-33 NKJV

Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

Luke 1:7 NKJV

But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.‘

Luke 1:13, 17 NKJV

Sarah, Mother of Isaac

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!’ Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.’ 

Genesis 17:17-19 NIV

Hannah, Mother of Samuel

And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.‘

1 Samuel 1:10-11 NKJV

Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.  So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, ‘Because I have asked for him from the Lord.’

1 Samuel 1:19-20

Queen Esther

The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 

Esther 2:17 NKJV

‘For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?‘

Esther 4:14 NKJV

The Apostle Paul

But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.‘

Acts 9:15 NKJV

The Twelve Apostles

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

Luke 6:12-16 NKJV

God has chosen you, too, for a great purpose.

Don’t ever feel left out of life. You are a chosen vessel of the Lord. Let His Holy Spirit be born in you. Carry the heart of heaven, full of hope, out of which faith grows.

‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ says the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.‘

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

God has a wonderful plan for every person who belongs to Him. The Lord has chosen all of us to praise and worship Him. He alone receives the glory from mankind, who is the crown of His creation.

God has chosen each of us. But, have you chosen God? God has made a way of salvation through the blood, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Accepting Jesus as Savior is the key to living a chosen life full of blessings and hope.

Will you choose Jesus today?

Dear Father, I choose to receive Jesus into my life. I repent of my sins and ask you to wash them away in Your precious blood. I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior and write my name in the Book of Life. Thank you for your mercy and grace, and thank you for Your promise of eternal salvation. I will love and serve You all the days of my life. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

You are Chosen by Karen Jurgens, copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Be Born in Me by Francesca Battistelli.