You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
John 15:16
Chosen by Jesus
I can't think of anything that feels better than being
chosen. Often, the choice proves we have some special talent-like being chosen
captain of a sports team- or the choice may validate years of hard work-like being
chosen valedictorian of the class. But sometimes people are chosen for no other
reason than the one doing the choosing simply picks them.
That is what happens in adoptions. One child is picked out from
all others because someone has the power and they decide they wanted that
particular one. The chosen hasn't earned it, doesn't control it and may never
understand the reason why, but they receive all the benefits none the less.
Only hours before His crucifixion Jesus looked around at the
men who for three-and-a-half years had given up everything to follow Him and
said, "It is not that you have chosen me, but that I have chosen you." This was
not a statement minimizing their sacrifice but a truth to hold on to if they
would weather the fast approaching storm. There are definite advantages in
being chosen and these desperate men needed to remember what they were. Being
chosen by Jesus, made them secure.
Because He knew their past, nothing back there need haunt
them. He saw it all from the beginning and chose them anyway.
Because He knew their present, He was never surprised or
disappointed by their weakness. He knew their problems better than they did and
He chose them anyway.
Because He knew their future, no sin they might commit, no failure,
no laziness or anger or misconception on their part would ever make Him turn
away. He knew these things from the beginning and He chose them anyway.
But there was more. Being chosen was not the end of the
relationship; it was the beginning. Jesus had a goal. They were chosen to bear
fruit. They would never drift without purpose or direction. Because they were
chosen by Jesus they were guaranteed to have a fruitful life. If in the future
they felt their life was going nowhere or wondered about the meaning of it all,
they could rest. He had picked them for a purpose and He will not let that purpose
fall flat.
Yet, above the security and purpose involved in being
chosen, there was one more privilege that outshone them all. Because they were
chosen, they had direct access to God the Father. As the fruit of character and
life grew inside them, they would know more of what it meant to ask "in Jesus
name." Using that name, they would ask and asking, they would receive.
Remembering that He had chosen them would provide security
and courage in the dark hours just ahead. It was a solid rock in the coming
storm.
And, it can also be a rock for us. After all, we've been
chosen, too. [1]
[1] Revelation 22:17
