Pick Me…

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For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you…1 Thessalonians 1:4

No matter your age, there is always something thrilling about being picked or chosen.

Every summer our church allows the members to submit favorite hymns which are then selected by our music minister to be used during a Sunday service. At the start of the summer, I submitted three hymns and I have waited patiently for months to see if one of my choices made the cut.

Actually, I didn’t wait that patiently.

I would hustle in each Sunday and pick up the bulletin and quickly peruse it hoping to see my name. To be honest, all the hymns previously selected have been great but for some ridiculous reason, I wanted one of my choices to be sung. There is no rational explanation for my competitive behavior.

Yesterday, I rushed in to church and was thrilled to see my song, “Be Thou My Vision” as one of the choices for the service. I instantly behaved like a juvenile and was thrilled to the core. Such a silly girl. My family was thoroughly amused.

What is it about us that we need to feel special? We think we need to be picked. Truth is, we are already chosen. God chose us first…He knows the hairs on our head and He wove and knit us in our mother’s womb. How much better can it be than that?

I enjoyed the hymn but I reminded myself that what is most important is to worship the One who chose me. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son that we might know we are beloved. That is truly a concept I can grasp.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

It’s all about me

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I have found that most people think the world revolves around them. It’s just human nature to think of ourselves first…and it’s hard to deny it.

When my Dad was sharing his secrets to being a great salesperson, he told me that I would be successful if I just asked people to talk about themselves. He was right. Most clients love to share. I love to listen. It’s a good strategy.

I think back to Jesus’s disciples. James and John asked for an honored place at His side in glory. As you can imagine, this didn’t go over well with the others. Everyone thought they were special. It is what I love about these men. Ordinary guys living during an extraordinary time…and they are simply clueless about some things.

We all want to be important. We all want positions of power and authority. We all want to be honored. We want it to be all about us.

It is good to know that Jesus wants to give us an honored place in His kingdom.

What a day of rejoicing that will be.

Regrets? I have a few

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I’m somewhat surprised when I hear someone say they have no regrets. I find that hard to believe.

There is only one person that I know who is perfect and we just celebrated His resurrection yesterday. But for the rest of us…we could use some work.

As for me, I have a lot of regrets. Too many to mention. I have been known to sit through Sunday service, say all my prayers of forgiveness with a genuine and contrite heart, march up for communion and then on the way back to my pew my mind wanders to something that I instantly regret. I can go south in a hot minute.

I once thought if I was the sort of person that believed in tattoos, I would put a permanent bodily marking of Romans 3:23 in a place where the sun doesn’t shine. That verse is courtesy of my sweet Baptist upbringing. Romans 3:23 rings true for my life. Some days I just fall a little short of the glory of God. Maybe a lot.

I have learned to live with regret but I try to learn from my mistakes as well. Even more important, I believe in a God that forgives my sins. In fact, it is my desire to try to please Him by decreasing my personal number of regrets earned in a single day.

Regrets? I have a few. But I also have a loving Savior who reminds me daily that He holds my hand as we walk through the highs and lows of this life together. Loving Jesus and choosing to follow Him is the one thing I will never regret.

How great is that?

100% Guarantee

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As a real estate agent, I am often asked by my clients for a 100% guarantee that a sale is going to occur once we have gone to contract. I love my clients and I love closings, but I can’t guarantee a perfect closing.

In this life, we have too many variables to guarantee much of anything. Love can’t be guaranteed, happiness can’t be guaranteed, jobs can’t be guaranteed and anything worth having is probably going to take hard work and effort.

But there is ONE thing I can 100% guarantee.

Jesus loves you!

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the joy-filled shouts, cheers and waiving of palms…He knew His future. But he rode right into the bitterness of those who would seek to bring Him to death. He rode in majesty. He rode for you and for me. 

 

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!

 

In lowly pomp ride on to die.

 

Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain.

 

Then take, 0 Christ, Thy power and reign.

 

Chosen

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My grandson is eight months old and is a bubbly, sweet bundle of joy. He is also seriously a Momma’s boy. He likes the ladies and he especially likes my sweet daughter. I have always thought the rest of us made him happy but it was not the same.

But today, I was chosen. I’m not sure what happened and I didn’t do anything differently, but my grandson could not get enough of his Mimi. He wanted to be near me, touch me, talk gibberish to me and just be my new best friend. He cried when I turned him over to his Mom.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I absolutely loved this moment and had a little fun with this special time with him. It is good to be number one!

From a little precious cherub came a wonderful reminder of what it is like to be chosen.  That’s how we should feel about Jesus. He has chosen us. We are His chosen. I am awestruck by this fact in that while we are not worthy, He still chooses us.

Psalms 33:12 says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance”.

We are so lucky; we are so fortunate; we are chosen.