Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1.3-5).

If we are ever to belong to God, will it be because of His initiative or ours?If you were born (and I would guess most of you were), did you decide to be conceived?The parents decide; the child who was non-existent before conception had nothing to do with it.The Bible says, if we love God, it’s because He first loved us. It was His decision, He chose us long before we chose Him; in fact, He chose us before the world began.

God chooses not to let us have what we want—an eternity of self-love, self-absorption and self-direction apart from Him. Instead, God predestined us for adoption as His children. Steve Brown used to often say, “When you see a turtle on a fencepost, you know it didn’t get there by itself.”

This should lead to confident evangelism, as there is no one so bad, stubborn, proud, wealthy or cynical that they can resist the relentless love of God. This should lead to confident assurance. Jesus says that of all the Father gives Him, He will lose none! The God who set His love on us before the world began will not ever let us go!

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for setting your love on me before there was a “me.”  Thank you for opening my eyes to your ancient, never-ending love for me.