Yesterday morning we were talking about the NFL Draft and I realized that there is a bit of an analogy there to be applied to our lives, concerning our selection by the Lord. I heard some guys on the radio describe the NFL draft as a giant roll of the dice for the teams making selections. They evaluate the prospective players on their abilities, character, past performance, and potential. They then look at their existing team, where they have needs, and figure out what player is the best match for their need. The issue is that all of the things that they consider (ability, character, etc,) are not always a good indication of future performance. There have been many cases where highly touted individuals have never really benefitted the team that chose them.
Secondly in the draft, there is much discussion about the order in which they are drafted. It reminds me a bit of choosing teams on the playground, two team captains would choose from a pile of kids gathered around, and the kids who were chosen last were seen as less desirable. In the NFL draft there are always participants who are not selected, and that must be really difficult, even as it was on the children chosen last on the playground.
So what does this have to do with our faith, and relationship with the Lord? Paul clearly describes how God has chosen us in His letter to the Ephesians 1:3-6 NIV:
[1] "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. [4] For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--- [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."
We were chosen by God before the creation of the world. That is possible because the Lord exists outside of time, and He sees the beginning and the end and everything in between. So when God looks at us He sees our whole life. David said it well in Psalm 139:16: ..."all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." There is no mystery to God about what we will do, about every thought, word or action we will ever have, say or do. He sees our complete life, and still He has chosen us! In other words when He looked at all of mankind, all who ever lived, looked at His own family, He saw you and me and decided that He wanted us to be a part of His family. He has no doubts, because He has already seen our complete life and thought we were exactly the right person to choose! His choosing us can never be described as a roll of the dice, because He already has seen everything we do, who we become and our total character expressed throughout our life, so His selection of us, His choosing us is 100% accurate and sure. Let that sink in for a bit - the most intelligent, all powerful, all knowing, eternally aware individual looked at the complete record of your life and said, 'Yes, I pick you to be my daughter!', 'Yes, I pick you to be my son!'
Secondly, we are not His last pick. Although we have been born later in the history of the world, His choice of us occurred before the creation of the world. We are all the same exact level of relationship to Him, we are all His sons and daughters. We are all co-heirs with Christ Jesus, we all have the same relationship. God does have organizational and ministry order for the Body of Christ, but that is not to be considered related to our relative importance to Him. He loves each of us with the same passion, the same desire. We don't all have the same role, but that does not reduce our importance. In fact Paul wrote in his 1st letter to the church in Corinth 12:22-24, "On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,.." In other words, if we think we are weak or not important we actually are indispensable and highly honored!
So today, I am reminded that the Lord chose me, and had no doubt in doing so, for He knew that I would be exactly the individual He thought I would be! He chose me, He predestined me for adoption as His son! The same is true for each of you. His words, spoken over Jesus are as true about me and you as they are about anyone in history - “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” or "This is my daughter, whom I have chosen, listen to her." Luke 9:35NIV.
Amen!
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