Do you remember picking teams in school? The team captain would pick each player from the pool of students, based on their ability and of course, popularity. How many of you were the first to be picked? How many of you were the last? I was ALWAYS last! I wasn’t coordinated, fast, athletic, or popular. Even if my friend was the one picking, I was STILL always last! But did you know there is a greater team and God is our captain? Did you know that you have already been chosen? Think about that my friend, you have been chosen! God, our ultimate team captain, has chosen you for His team. Not because of who you are, and not because of your talent or even how many friends you have…He has chosen YOU, because He loves you!

Picture it, if you will, you’re lined up on the playground, waiting for the team captains to make their picks. Your heart is beating wildly. Your anxiety is high! You say to yourself, “Please! Don’t let me be the last one to be picked!” The captain surveys the group and opens his mouth to call out the first name. AND IT’S YOU! You are chosen! All the fear of rejection and embarrassment of not being good enough, fades away and you proudly take your place next to the captain. You are part of the team! And did you earn your spot? NO! You didn’t try out for the team. You didn’t have to take a written test or do physical drills. You were chosen, simply because the captain wanted you. Such is the way of the Lord! He wants you and all you have to do is accept his invitation, walk over, and join his team!

So, you see my friend, you can’t earn your way into Heaven. You can’t work hard enough, do enough good deeds, give enough money…nothing you can do will earn you a place on His team. It is by His choosing. It is by His pick that we are saved, by His grace and mercy, that we should inherit eternal life. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”2 Timothy 1:9, “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”  

The team captain has called you. You have been chosen because he sees something special in you. He has chosen you to serve on his team, by his grace and not from the abilities you solely possess. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! Will you walk over now and stand next to him?

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

If you’d like to know more about Jesus and how much he loves you, please follow this link, https://stepstopeace.org/.