Chosen

I know so often when I wake up in the morning, my first thoughts are centered around me. I often think, "What fun things can I do today?" or "I wonder if anyone left a comment on my blog?" (it's true!). This morning I woke up with the song, "This is the cry of my heart, to worship You" stuck in my head. Though I immediately thought those two other thoughts I mentioned, the song stuck in my head made me realize what I was doing. I was being a hypocrite.

In John 15:16a, Christ says, "You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." This verse really struck me recently, and I've been meditating on it.

First of all, God chose me. It wasn't the other way around. I couldn't chose Him when I was dead in my transgressions and sins. I was dead for goodness' sake! And not only was I dead, but I was willfully rebellious against Him.

Yet even in my rebellious, dead state, God singled me out and chose to give me life. This fact alone should cause me to want to give Him my whole life. But there's even more. He not only chose me out of the world, but appointed me to a specific duty. This duty is to bear fruit for Him.

Interestingly, this verse says "to bear fruit that will last." What is fruit that will last? What immediately comes to my mind when I think of fruit (in the Bible, that is), is the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, and so on. But I realized that fruit that will last is also pointing others to Christ.

So I challenge you this day, as I am challenging myself, to live life as one chosen by God! Let your actions, reactions, and interactions with others show that you are set apart for God's purpose. You are chosen for the beautiful task of bearing fruit for God. Should this not be the focus of every day, every minute, and every second?