There is a small number of those whom God has chosen, because of his mercy. His choice is based on his mercy, not on what they have done. For if God’s choice were based on what men do, then his mercy would not be true mercy.
Romans 11: 5-6 (TEV)
Scripture: Romans 11: 1-12
Many people ask the question, How does God choose who gets salvation? It is His hope that all seek Him as their Lord and Savior. This devotion looks at how and why salvation is offered.
God chose the Israelites to be His people. He also chose the Gentiles to be His people. It is God’s choice to whom He offers His salvation.
God has chosen those who follow Christ to be His children. Because of this, God’s rich blessings have come to the world.
It is God’s wish that all chose to follow Christ. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2: 3-4 NIV). He chooses everyone.
This choice is not influenced by what kind of person we are. God doesn’t have a checklist on which to measure prospective Christians.
Nor does God choose us because we think highly of ourselves. We can’t go to Him, make our sales pitch and hope He will buy our product – us. He chooses us because He loves us and has a better life for us.
We can’t work our way into salvation, either. A lot of people think that because they are basically good, upstanding citizens, they will become a citizen of heaven. It doesn’t work that way, folks. Salvation is a gift from God. All we have to do is ask forgiveness.
On the other hand, the Lord knows we are human. He knows we will disobey Him. But “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (Rom. 9: 22-24 NIV).
God uses our disobedience to show His mercy to us (Rom. 11: 32). He turns a mistake, a bad situation, around to show us that He is with us, that He cares for us, and that He still chooses us to be His children.
By showing mercy to us, God shows us what a loving God He is. It puts the focus on Him, not us. That is where the focus should be, on the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Okay, so God chooses us. He holds on to us no matter how bad we are or how bad we think we are. Why? He chooses us to worship Him. He wants us to dedicate our lives to serving Him (Rom. 12: 1). He wants us to be His children.
His commitment is for life. He expects no less from us.
Our Father. You have chosen to make us Your children. We have done nothing to deserve this, yet You have mercy on us and bless us. Lord, there are times when we forget we would be nothing without You. We think we are important, Lord, and forget You should be the most important thing in our lives. Please forgive us. Lord, we offer ourselves to You to serve You in the ways You choose. We pray that all our words and actions are for Your glory and Your honor. Amen.
What do you think? What makes the most impact on you? Is it the fact that God is not influenced by the kind of person we are or that He chose us knowing we would still mess up? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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