Nancy Hughes: His first choice

“. . . for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.”

Deuteronomy 14:2 (NIV)

About three years after my husband passed away, I received a phone call from an acquaintance asking me out on a date. It caught me by surprise because I had given no thought to dating at all.

The conversation – or rather, his invitation – left me speechless. First we exchanged the usual greetings: “How are you?” “I’m doing okay. And you?” “I’m doing alright, too.” Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Then he said “I’m calling to ask you out on a date.” Before I could respond, he continued. "I asked a woman out here in my town that I kind of know but she had other plans. So then I asked out a friend of her sister’s cousin but she couldn’t go either. I couldn’t think of anybody else so I called you.” Mercy.

At first the words would not come but I was finally able to find my voice and politely decline his invitation. But I found myself thinking “he just told me that I was his third choice for a date. Not his first or even the second. But his third choice.”

Our Scripture is Deuteronomy 14:2. It reads “. . . for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.” Moses could have written that for anyone who has ever been relegated to third – or last – place.

For example, you not only do not get the job you applied for but you don’t even get an interview. Or all of your friends are getting together Saturday night and you find out that you were not included.

Yes those situations are going to happen in life. But never with God. He says that He chose you to be His “treasured possession.” Something that special and priceless is selected FIRST and cared for and loved. He even says that before we were in the womb, He had already set us apart. (Jeremiah 1:5)

Second place? Or even third? No way! We were loved before the world began, set apart as treasures, and selected to serve the Creator of the Universe. So the next time you find yourself second or third or not even considered for something, remember that with the Lord, you are always His first choice.

Father, I love knowing that you have chosen me as your possession, as your child. That you treasure me. Thank you for your love and mercy. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Can you remember a situation when it was very clear that you were not a first choice for a job or event?

How did that make you feel?

Apply

Journal a paragraph in black ink about a situation you are currently in that causes you to feel you are unwanted or unloved. Beside it, in red ink, journal today’s Power Verses and insert your name in place of the pronoun “you.”

Thank the Lord that He is a personal God and has selected you as His treasured possession.

Power

Deuteronomy 14:2 (NIV) “. . . for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.”

John 15:16 (NIV) “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”