Called and Chosen
“Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
‘What are you looking for?’”John 1:38a
Have you ever been chosen to be a part of a team? Do you recall as a child in the school playground when the two team captains begin to choose people to be a part of their team and your name is called? How did it feel? Or maybe you didn’t get called or maybe called last? How did it feel? Sometimes when we are not called or chosen for something we question our value and worth because something in our hearts tell us that we were not good enough, but that’s not necessarily the case. Sometimes we are not chosen for one thing because something else awaits us.
Young Samuel heard a voice in the middle of the night and he thought it was Eli who had called him so he went and inquired. But, Eli said he had not called him. Later Eli realized that the Lord was calling out to Samuel so he instructed him to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening” if he heard the Voice again. He did and the LORD remained with him, sustaining him in the call to which He has called Samuel.
As Jesus began His public ministry, John the Baptist remained steadfast in His call in testifying to Jesus, crying out in the desert to make straight the paths, and baptizing in the Jordan. While with two of his disciples, John the Baptist caught sight of Jesus and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Those two disciples in turn followed Jesus and stayed with Him. An interesting detail here is that the disciples of John became disciples of Jesus, showing us the fruit of fulfilling one’s call. John the Baptist’s call was to testify to Christ and to point the way to Christ for others, and his life did just that. When the appointed time had come and having been taught and prepared by John, the disciples followed the Master Teacher, the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Brothers and sisters, we too have been called and chosen, not for the world, but for heaven. When the world rejects us it is because God has claimed us for His own. When others in this world refuse to befriend us, it is because our true friends are yet to be revealed. Rejection is never a gauge of our worth or dignity, but rather a reminder that something greater awaits us and that Someone has already called and chosen us. We have been called and chosen by God.
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