Saturday, January 9, 2016
John 15:16a You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last.
BLESSED ARE YOU
Have you ever realized that you were just lucky? As I read the reports of the terrible things going on in Syria and other places in the world, I realize how lucky I am to live in a safe country a land where children can learn, grow, blossom and flourish, where they laugh in safety. When I read about the way life was lived in some other periods of history, I'm thankful that I live in an age with modern medicine and comforts. I, of course, did nothing to merit this life. I didn't choose where to be born. I didn't choose my country. I didn't choose which century I would live in. You might call it luck. But I wouldn't. I was born where and when I was born because that's the way God caused it to be. So a better word would than "lucky" would be "blessed."
If you were to read through Chapters 47-49 of Jeremiah you would find a whole lot about judgment and nothing much about grace. In those chapters, God addressed nations like Moab, Edom, Phillistia, Babylone and others, He told them how He would destroy them. A few of them, He said would return but to none of them did He say the kinds of things that He said to Israel. And that's what should stand out most here. Israel was blessed. They were different. For them, even in the midst of judgment, there was grace. Ever remained the promise of life and forgiveness in Jesus who was to come. Even when they had ruined the covenant of Sinai, still there remained the covenant which (though created and pledged in the mind of God before time began) was new because it remained ever new, ever vital, ever relevant: The forgiveness of sins. God had made this promise to them and it wasn't because they were better than the other nations. It wasn't because they asked for it. It wasn't because they were stronger or holier. It was just because God wanted to. He chose them. In other words, they were blessed.
And so are all who believe in Jesus Christ. You didn't choose Him, He chose you (John 15:16). You did not choose to be born to parents who loved you and taught you about your Savior or if you learned some other way, you did not choose that. You did not choose to be born in a time where God's Word of salvation in Jesus was so readily available. He chose you to be His. He decided to die for you as He died for all. He decided to call you through the gospel and give you faith. And He did that just because He wanted to. It's not because you are better or stronger or holier it's just because of grace. You are so blessed.
