Chosen and Blessed
Scripture
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
—Ephesians 1:3–5 (NLT)
Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with worship. He praises God because he knows who he is and whose he is. God, he says, “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” Not some, not most, but every spiritual blessing. If you know Jesus, you are immensely blessed. You may not always feel it, but your circumstances do not determine your blessings. Your union with Christ does. Paul reminds us that we are seated with Him in heavenly places, loved, forgiven, and free.
He also reminds us that God chose us before He made the world. Think about that. Before there was a star in the sky or an ocean on the earth, God already had you in mind. You are not an accident or an afterthought. He chose you to be His, to be holy and without fault in His eyes. You might look at your life and think, “That doesn’t sound like me.” But that’s the power of grace. God doesn’t see you through your failures; He sees you through His Son.
“Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God’s loving eyes.”¹
— Henri Nouwen
No one likes to be picked last. But God looked at you and said, “I want you.” Not because you earned it or deserved it, but because He wanted you, and it gave Him great pleasure to bring you into His family. That is the heart of the gospel. He took your sin and gave you His righteousness. As Paul wrote elsewhere, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In Christ, that is how God sees you. Righteous, holy, and pleasing to Him.
Today, remember who you are and what you have been given. You are chosen, adopted, forgiven, and deeply loved. You are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. God’s grace isn’t something you have to earn; it’s the gift you get to live in every day. So stop striving for a place you already have, and let that truth steady your heart and fill you with gratitude today.
Reflection
- What does it mean to you to be chosen by God before the creation of the world?
- How does knowing you are “blessed with every spiritual blessing” change your perspective today?
- How does knowing you were adopted into God’s family, simply because it gave Him great pleasure, change how you approach Him in prayer?
Prayer
Thank God for choosing you, adopting you into His family, and blessing you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ask Him to help you see yourself as He sees you, holy, loved, and forgiven.
Footnote
¹ Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (New York: Crossroad, 2002), 48–49.