I Choose

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 ESV). In our reading this morning Paul declares that God has chosen His children. Without debating the theology of that truth, I want to emphasize the nature of it. Many people have difficulty understanding how or why God chooses. The concept of individual merit clouds our understanding. Most people believe that we must do something, small and insignificant as it might be, to deserve being chosen. That simply is not the case. God chooses because He is God and the choice does not reflect worthiness on the part of the one that is chosen. That is grace. The following letter appears in a book by Dan Taylor called Letters to My Children (InterVarsity Press, 1989). Dan is writing to his son Matthew. Dear Matthew, When I was in the sixth grade I was an all-American. I was smart, athletic, witty, handsome, and incredibly nice. Things went downhill fast in junior high, but for this one year at least, I had everything. Unfortunately, I also had Miss Owens for an assistant teacher. She helped Mr. Jenkins, our regular teacher. She knew that even though I was smart and incredibly nice, there was still a thing or two I could work on. One of the things you were expected to do in grade school was learn to dance. My parents may have had some reservations at first, but since this was square dancing, it was okay. Every time we went to work on our dancing, we did this terrible thing. The boys would all line up at the door of our classroom. Then, one at a time, each boy would pick a girl to be his partner. The girls all sat at their desks. As they were chosen, they left their desks and joined the snot nosed kids who had honored them with their favor. Believe me, the boys did not like doing this, at least I didn't. But think about being one of those girls. Think about waiting to get picked. Think about seeing who was going to get picked before you. Think about worrying that you'd get picked by someone you couldn't stand. Think about worrying whether you were going to get picked at all! Think if you were Mary. Mary sat near the front of the classroom on the right side. She wasn't pretty. She wasn't real smart. She wasn't witty. She was nice, but that wasn't enough in those days. And Mary certainly wasn't athletic. In fact, she'd had polio or something when she was younger; one of her arms was drawn up, and she had a bad leg, and to finish it off, she was kind of fat. Here's where Miss Owens comes in. Miss Owens took me aside one day and said, "Dan, next time we have square dancing, I want you to choose Mary." Regardless of how you look, or what you have done, God’s choice is based on His grace toward you. He desires you to be His child. Trust in Him not yourself!