PICK ME

I remember PE class in middle school when the coach would pick two captains and they would select from the class team members for doge ball. You could tell which kids didn’t have much confidence that they would be chosen in the early rounds by their body language. Some would squirm back and forth unable to peal their eyes from the gym floor below. It was apparent they hated this part of PE class. As those students stood there shifting their weight back and forth listening with their heads down they must have been wishing and praying and saying to themselves, “Pick me…pick me!”

Name after name would be called. Each selected member would quickly hustle over to their respective team. You could cut the tension with a knife as fewer and fewer students remained along the wall uncalled. There were only a few kids left and someone knew they would be the last one picked. It always came down to the one standing alone and when selected they would move over to their team, shoulders drooping knowing they were on the team only by default. Getting picked last stinks.

Here is some good news. In the Kingdom of God there are none who are picked last. God does not choose us because we are the most athletic, the smartest, the strongest, or the most religious. We cannot do anything to earn the salvation God graciously and freely gives us. It has always been a part of God’s plan to adopt us into His family, so we cannot take the credit. There is no room for pride.

Our team captain is Jesus Christ. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are holy and blameless in God’s sight. We are set apart. Through Jesus we are a part of the body of Christ. We are on His team.

Paul the apostle said, “Long ago, even before God made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.”—Ephesians 1:4-5

We are not picked last, but first. In fact, Jesus picked you long before any of us existed!

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