You Are God’s Chosen Family
We snaked through the pre-game traffic in Charlottesville with the experienced patience of people who have been going to games at the University of Virginia for almost 50 years (yikes). I was looking at the neighborhood we were stuck in, wondering about housing costs. I asked my husband, "What would have happened if we had chosen to live here after graduation?"
He's used to this from me. I ask this EVERY time we go up for a game. He shrugs and hopes I am done with my rumination. I am not. My mind scrolls back to all the "choices" we have made over the years. Choosing, along with our best friends, to go en masse to Virginia. Choosing to get married straight out of college. Choosing Richmond over Charlottesville. Choosing to join a church that became our home for many years and determined who our lifelong friends would become. One choice after another, not the least of which was our choice to believe that there is a God (and we did not get the job).
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
In this passage, Joshua is offering a true choice to his people - Door A or Door B. Joshua declares his choice, and his people follow his lead. No single decision has been as impactful in our lives than this one, impacting every dimension of our life - for good, and in some cases, to our detriment. Choosing God over the "gods of our ancestors" has not been #blessed 24/7. I know this sounds like blasphemy, I intend no offense. I mean, think about it. There are plenty of biblical characters who CHOSE wisely and ended up suffering for their choice. One word: Jesus.
Of course, the challenging days, the "bad things," are not God's fault. We chose AND we have not always remembered our choice or applied this decision to our daily lives - we're as uneven in our faithfulness as the next guy I suppose. So let's assume we are no one's hero! But that's not my point. My point is this: the central issue is not what I choose or do not choose. I am not the central character in a one-woman play.
We live in a world that tells us that we have choices. And we do? Maybe? A few? But perhaps fewer choices than we think. Choice sounds great because it implies control, and we all love that, right? We like to think we are the queen of our castle, the master of our destiny, the captain of our ship. Now, hear me on this. I'm not saying we have no choice. When we say for example, "I don't have any choice but to..." that statement usually means that we are about to do something that flies in the face of our own values. I'm not saying there are no choices. And I'm not saying that we are not responsible for the choices we actually make. But what I'm saying is that we are not as in control, large and in charge as we think.
Last Sunday my granddaughter was "reading" to us. She turned the book into a musical, breaking into song and dance in ways that I have never seen applied to that book - which was super fun - but she was a demanding entertainer. If one of us commented, or spoke, she would yell, "Catch a bubble." And she expected us to catch it. (This evidently means you fill your cheeks with air and hold that pose - which does indeed make it impossible to interrupt.) She SO thought she was in charge and she held the power to choose our responses. She was, of course, wrong. It suited us to catch a bubble. Pete could watch the US Open in silence - except for the reading, singing, and dancing ninja vying for his attention. The truth is - every single one of us could have lost our bubble and exerted our power in a nanosecond. Choice and control are both tricky and at times illusions.
Today, I want to leave you with a bit of a different perspective on choice.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
You. Are. Chosen. This is more important than what you do or do not choose. It is more crucial than your consistency and follow through on the choices you do make. You. Are. Chosen. If your choices are confusing, if you are on occasion disappointed in your own commitment to your choices, I think this is good news. You are not dependent on your own wisdom and self-control - we live in a bubble and we did not have to find it. The bubble of God's love finds us. He chose first. I hope this offers you some comfort.
I hope this changes things for you.
