Stranger ThingsSample

A Chosen People

Have you ever had the glorious grade-school experience of lining up to get picked for kickball (or whatever game/sport was being played at recess that day)? It can be brutal!!! Everyone knew the first couple rounds of picks before a word had been said…it was always the same small group of genetically gifted individuals who were good at everything. Then there was the massive pile of seemingly random picks through the majority of kids with average athletic ability. And then, tragically, there were always the predictable two or three last picks…the kids the captains of the teams would actually argue about taking and try to give to the other team. If you’ve ever been in that last group, you know the pain of such a public display of rejection.

However, the very, VERY good news that Peter gives us in this section of his letter is that with Jesus, there is no reject group when He’s picking teams. Jesus looked across the proverbial playground fence at the line of kids eager to play, and He locked eyes with you and said, “I choose them!” Jesus wanted you on His team, and went wildly out of His way to choose you and make you a part of His family (“His people”). Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we now belong to this special group - we’ve been picked for the team. So, when the world screams at you that you just aren’t enough, remember that Jesus thinks you are more than enough. He chose you, and you now sit in a place of undeserved favor simply because He loves you.