And God Chose You
Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you,
their descendants after them, out of all the peoples. —Deuteronomy 10:15
READ: Deuteronomy 10:10-15
REFLECT: Have you ever watched children pick teams for playground games? The good players are quickly snatched up by each team, and then the picking slows as each remaining player is considered. Eventually there is just one left. That unclaimed one walks over to the team that never had to say his or her name.
Some of us may still remember these school-day wounds, or we may think of more recent rejections: a love ended, a promotion denied, a hurtful rumor started. In each case, a heart is left empty of love and acceptance.
Deuteronomy also seems to be filled with rejection, but in many cases, it is God who is rejected. Through desert wanderings and with a kingdom in sight, God’s promises to the Israelites are being fulfilled. God is faithful to God’s people! But how quickly they forget; they reject God once more by creating a golden calf to worship instead.
As Moses recounts the story of the Israelites’ journey, he weaves this rejection together with God’s unending love and acceptance. “Yet the Lord . . . chose you . . . out of all peoples.” This is the ultimate acceptance of a people who certainly didn’t deserve it.
Isn’t that how God is? When we least deserve God’s love, showers of blessing come down on us. We are always accepted and always chosen. God calls our name because God knows us and cares for us. God desperately wants us to be part of God’s team.
—Jennifer Esbenshade
RESPOND: Attune my ears so I can hear you call my name, Lord. Thank you for setting me apart to be your child.