Lent Day 10: Chosen

It has been ten days since the Holy Spirit led me to commence this lenten journey by choice. I praise the Father for allowing me to choose this vibrant and daily reminder and I thank Jesus for helping me keep this commitment through His finished work, His righteousness.

Praise His wonderful name!

Holy Jesus, 

may my motives for this endeavor 

be pure and pleasing to You! 

Strip from my heart 

any and all traces of potential desires 

to appear holy 

and please keep me humble and grateful. 

May I honor You completely!

In Your hallowed name, I pray. 

Amen!

And today I sing,

"Refiner's fire,

My heart's one desire

Is to be holy,

Set apart for You, Lord;

I choose to be holy,

Set apart for You, my Master,

Ready to do Your will."

-- Extracted from Refiner's Fire, Brian Doerksen

Chosen.

         Choice.

                 Choose.

Once chosen, a person is invited to go down the ladder of humility to contemplate the choice given them by God, and to step further down onto the rung of obedience -- to choose to embrace God's summons of faith, love, and peace.

So it was with Abraham.

So it is with Abraham's descendants.

So it is with . . . us!

The Lord chose Abraham and, through him, chose his people—Israel—to live in a manner that is set apart and pleasing to Him. One significant benefit of God’s choice is this: All nations are blessed through Abraham. This blessing is ultimately manifested in the Father’s placing a descendant of Abraham on His eternal throne, thus broadening His choice to establish a new and complete Israel based upon faith in Christ Jesus alone.

"In Christ alone, my hope is found

He is my strength, my life, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My comforter, my all in all --

Here in the love of Christ I stand."

-- Extracted from In Christ Alone,

Keith & Kristyn Getty

Consequently, we who believe in the power of Christ’s blood can say without a doubt that God has singled us out and assigned to us a lifestyle that is markedly different from that which is practiced outside the faith. In fact, Colossians 3:12-14 validates this point with the following words:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, 

holy and dearly loved, 

clothe yourselves with compassion, 

kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

Bear with each other 

and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. 

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

And over all these virtues put on love, 

which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, we live in a small world. The close proximity that Earth affords and provides undeniably leads us to bump into one another. When these relational “bumper to bumper” collisions take place, strong feelings—hurt, embarrassment, anger, frustration, pride, and the like—are unavoidably felt within. All people (Christians and non-Christians alike) commonly share such experiences. However, because of the grace God has extended to us, we are called to respond in a manner that is quite countercultural.

How so? 

When the ire of impatience rises within, the Word of God tells us to thank God for the people He has placed in our lives and to continually remember them in our prayers of blessing (Rom. 1:8-10). 

When we are tempted to avoid “extra-grace-required people”—as some are in the habit of saying—the Word suggests that we might instead strive to see them expressly for the purpose of mutually encouraging one another’s faith (Rom. 1:11-13). 

When the urge to criticize another wells up, God’s Word exhorts us to be careful with the tendency to judge others (Rom. 2:1-10). 

In truth, God’s glory exits the community of believers when harmony is absent.

It is this gracious response that breeds compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love in us. It is this reconciliation, this harmony, this pure love that Jesus sets as a pre-requisite to prayer and worship (Matt. 5:24). 

As we pray today, tomorrow, and throughout the lifelong lent granted to us by the Father, let us remember that we have been chosen and reconciled in Christ.

O, Father, we confess that broken relationships exist within the body of Christ and such display of unforgiveness impedes our progress in our walk with You. Thank You for forgiving us in Christ when we hurt one another, when we tolerate the festering of relational wounds, when we cling to resentment and revenge in our hearts. Remind us, O Lord, that we have been chosen to make peace with those we have wronged and those who have wronged us. Strengthen us today to rend anything that lobbies to discredit Your choice of us and help us rest in Christ's gracious love which renews us to worship You without hindrance or hesitation. Thank You, thank You, and thank You, precious Lord. Amen!