Chosen for a reason?

Yesterday I thought about being chosen by God — for no reason, at least not in me. But He does have a reason. He told His disciples:

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)

There are three reasons in this verse. One is that I will bear fruit. All through the NT, fruit-bearing is defined as a changed life produced by the Holy Spirit and often through discipline. This implies that the person chosen has much that needs changing. That is one reason He picked me. I did and still do need changing.

Second, this fruit abides, continues, endures. It is not incidental but a lasting habit. Habits of any kind are a challenge and take much repetition to form — even with the power of the Holy Spirit behind them. They require learning and relearning. With my selfishness plus attention-deficit, this is the second reason He picked me.

The third reason is so He would be glorified in answered prayer. This does not mean that I am a strong prayer person. Instead, it implies that there is no other reliable virtue or skill in me so I must pray to accomplish anything, not just the fruit of being His child, but all things. I cannot eat or drink to the glory of God, never mind speak His will or fathom His ways without prayer. More and more I realize my helplessness and that helplessness is the third reason He picked me.

Sometimes the Bible seems to put the onus on God’s sheep to do the doing, the fruit producing, making it a habit, and do the praying. Realizing my impotence changes my view. To me, passages like this one are descriptive of those who have been blessed because we are chosen, and are not or have not done anything to become chosen:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:1–5)

Jesus explains that He is the door and we listen to Him. He came to give us life so we could live like His sheep.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3–6)

How does this make sense? It is because God knows the ones who are the most qualified to glorify Him; it is the least, not the most likely in our eyes, or His . . . .  

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:25–29)

PRAY: This week is a steep learning curve, yet when You speak to me, dear Jesus, I hear your voice and You change my life. More and more I see my foolishness, weakness, lowliness and lack of wisdom. More and more I see how much I need You and am willing to share with others that anything I accomplish is because of You. Yet I also see, more and more, how much more I must learn.