You Are Chosen for a Purpose

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit.” JOHN 15:16 NASB 

Remember when you were a kid and you wanted desperately to be chosen for something? Maybe you wanted on the kickball team at recess. Or maybe you tried out for cheerleading or soccer in middle school and you hoped you’d be picked for the team. And then in high school, as you were applying to colleges, you wanted to be selected by your top school choice. And eventually you may have wanted that special guy to look your way. 

Dr. Curt Thompson says, “We all are born into the world looking for someone looking for us.” That’s powerful, isn’t it? We want to be seen, to be known, to be heard, and to be understood. We want to be chosen.  

Beloved, you have been chosen by the One who made you and loves you. And Jesus says, specifically, “I chose you.” And He continues to name the reason we were chosen. (Spoiler alert: It’s not to win games, or hype up the fans in the bleachers, or even to succeed academically or socially.) Jesus says that you were chosen in order to bear fruit. And the kind of fruit He’s describing is to love one another. 

You were born looking for someone to look for you. Be assured that God sees you. God chooses you. And God equips you to bear fruit by loving others. 

You were made to love and be loved. Reflect on your journey of “looking for someone looking for us”—both your looking for a human person and a  divine one. 

God, thank You for seeing me and for choosing me.  Equip me to be the kind of person who does the thing I’m made for: love You and love others. Amen.