“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you…” (John 15:16).

This verse can be a great source of encouragement to each of us. God, at the beginning of creation, looked down the telescope of time and saw every person who would ever exist. For His own purposes, and for His own honor, He selected those who would bring glory to His name. These He set aside for Himself, calling them vessels of honor.

As Christians, children of God, beloved of the Father, each of us has been individually chosen and appointed as “…a vessel for honor (2 Tim. 2:21).

In Deuteronomy 18:4-5, the Lord told the children of Israel why He had selected them as His people. It was not because of their size; the other nations around them were much larger in territory and number. Nor was His choice based on any goodness or excellence on their part; in their wilderness rebellions they constantly provoked Him to the point of totally destroying them.

God did not choose Israel because of their good looks, wealth, achievement, or intelligence. He chose them because He had given His word of covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why He chose Abraham (and us) on whom to bestow His promise or blessing is still a mystery to us.

For us to attempt to itemize all the reasons why the Lord might have chosen us would be to miss completely the message of this verse and all those which speak of our election. Such verses are recorded to give us “humble boldness.” Boldness to know that we are included in the number of God’s redeemed. Humility to know that it was not we who chose Him, but He who loved us, knew us, and chose us – from the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).