God Is Not Like Us
“It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” – Deuteronomy 7:7-8
We are accustomed to choosing and being chosen – we do research and choose the vehicle that best meets our budget and needs. We choose a house that is close to our job, family, or church. We are chosen for a job or promotion because we have better abilities or skills than the other candidates. The choices we make are all based on some quality or feature of the item and we are chosen based on our own abilities. In a sense, being chosen is a reward because it signifies that what has been chosen is somehow better than the other options.
But God does not work in the same way. We can see in the passage from Deuteronomy 7:7-8 that God did not choose Israel for anything special in them. In fact, God goes out of His way to point out that Israel did not have anything going for it. God brought them out of Egypt because He loved them. This same concept carries over to the New Testament as well (John 6:65, Romans 9:11).
The fact that God chose us for nothing in ourselves is humbling. Even though God chose us, we cannot think too highly of ourselves because we know we did not do anything to earn God’s love (Ephesians 2:8).
This fact is also freeing. What happens when the car we chose gets too expensive to maintain? We get rid of it. What happens when we are no longer able to perform the job we were chosen for? We get fired. But we do not have to worry about God doing the same to us because we were not chosen because of any need on God’s part or because of any special ability or goodness within us. God’s choice was strictly His choice, and it was based totally on His own will (Romans 9:18, Ephesians 1:5,9). Since we did not earn God’s love, we cannot lose God’s love.
Yes, it is true, God is not like us. Let us praise God for that!
Prayer of the day:
Dear heavenly Father,
We are so thankful that You are not like us. We are temperamental, fickle, short-sighted, and always changing. You made a decision to save us before the formation of the world. What can we do to change Your decision? Thank you that You secured us through Jesus’ death and the working of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
