Chosen

Israel, you are my servant, I have chosen you

and not cast you off. Isaiah 41:9

You did not choose me but I chose you.

And I appointed you to go and bear fruit. John 15:16

To audition for the part and be cast in the role. To try out for the team and make the cut. To apply for the position and get the job. To be chosen. With it comes a rush of elation—a breathlessly ticklish pleasure in the gut and a swelling sense of accomplishment. It feels like the good part of a roller coaster ride—not the buildup of terror or the wide-eyed frenzy that comes with knowing there’s no turning back, but rather the fleetingly delightful part when you can’t help but laugh with pure joy. Is there any better sensation available in the range of human emotion?

Maybe one. How about the tingly warmth that spreads like honey when you’re chosen not for what you’ve done, but for who you are? The sensation that comes with recognizing you are loved wholly and completely by another human being is what we crave, and what we cherish once we’ve known it.

If being chosen for something or by someone brings so much happiness and fulfillment, then contemplate on the bliss that comes with being chosen by God.

This will be my mantra for today: God chose ME. God CHOSE me. GOD chose me.

That is a pretty fine thought for a Monday.