Photo by Jasmin Egger on Unsplash
It is the Lord that chooses. His criteria for selection is all known to Him, just as the Holy Spirit gives gifts to men as He wills. All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses. 1 Corinthians 12:11)
Let’s look at what the Lord told the people of Isreal about why He chose them as a people.
"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. [7] The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; [8] but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 NKJV
Who and what does the Lord chooses:
Generations (1 Peter 2:9): When the Lord loves your fathers, He chooses their descendants after them. Everything boils down to God’s love. God loved Abraham and He chose Isaac instead of Ishmael, even though both were from the same loins. To the third generation we can still see the effect of that love on Jacob. Malachi 1:2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you ask, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet Jacob I have loved.
People (Deuteronomy 7:7): Israel were the least of all peoples yet God chose them as a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Places of sacrifice (Exodus 20:24): There are places we go to make sacrifices that the Lord causes His name to be honored. “Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
Houses of worship ( 2 Chronicles 7:15-16 NKJV)
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. [16] For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
Nations and cities. I keep asking myself of all the places on the surface of the earth why Canaan Land did the Lord choose for His people to dwell? This is to show us that God’s choice overrides everything.
Servants: Many would have thought that when the great commission was given, the apostles will be the one solely in charge of the uttermost parts of the earth. The Lord specifically chose Paul to bear His name before gentiles. Acts 9:15 NKJV 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.
Type of fast (Isaiah 58:5-6): There are different kinds of fast that people practice today which they have imposed on themselves, but the Lord has specifically the type of fast He want.
Foolish, weak, base and despised things (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NKJV)
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. [27] But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; [28] and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, [29] that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Why God Chose YOU!
The 419 we play with our thinking is that we assure that why God loves us and answered our prayers is because of what we did or our righteousness. 1 John 4:19 says “We love because he first loved us.” But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Dear beloved, why God chose you to carry out His plans and purpose on earth is because HE LOVES YOU. We did not merit it, not by our handworks, eloquence, physic or possessions. Yes our mind may race to the scripture that says “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.”. Let us also remember that many are called but few are chosen.
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. God’s mercy is part of His Love Language.
GOD LOVES YOU and that is why you were chosen. That is a simple truth.