"But I Chose You"

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go an bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." John 15:16

I felt have heart-stinging pain of rejection. I believe everyone has experienced rejection in some form or another, whether it was from a business deal; or in a  friendship; or the rejection of a parent. All of us know what it's like not to be chosen. We weren't picked to play the game at recess. We were mocked for a physical difference that was out of our control. We come from the "wrong" side of the tracks. Our clothes aren't cool enough, or our family isn't good enough. Our skin is too dark or too light. And there are those times when rejection comes and we can't even figure out why.

I am a teacher of  5th graders. This is the year when drama seems to start for many children. I have witnessed students single out and exclude a child for no obvious reason. I have watched children change who they are to try to be included, accepted, chosen by others. How sad that they become someone else in order to be chosen.

What I love about this verse, what sends my heart soaring, is that He chose me! Nothing in this chapter explains my qualifications for being chosen by Jesus. Nowhere does it state that I was good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, or come from the good side of town to be chosen by Him. Jesus just says "but I chose you"! He picked me! Not only did He pick me but He appointed me to bear fruit. He picked me to do the most intimate thing, that is to abide in Him. He doesn't say now that I've picked you, you must do X,Y, and Z to remain in Me. No, He says He chose me and appointed me to bear fruit. The fruit that grows because I get to abide in Him.

Will I mess up? Yes! Am I still chosen? Yes! Will I need to have pruning done in my life? Oh, yes! Does that mean I have to work, to strive, to stay in Him? No, I just need to abide. When I enter my house, I can sit down on my couch and just be home. I can enter into any room and just be there. There is nothing I need to do to remain there. I think abiding in Him is the same. We get to come in and be apart of who Jesus is, and we don't have to do anything to be let in or to remain. We couldn't do anything to force our way in, He had to choose us!

No matter who else didn't or doesn't choose you, rest in the assurance and love and peace of knowing that He chose you!