Monday, April 13, 2026

Bible in a Year: Job 1-2 | Matthew 3

We’ve all experienced the dread of waiting to be chosen by team captains: Standing on the sideline, praying that we are not the last one picked. Surely we aren’t the worst option.

I watched this go down with an ironic twist while my kids played capture the flag with their friends. The two captains were five-year-old twins, so their priority was picking their friends over more skillful players. I laughed when my seven year old daughter was picked first over my thirteen-year-old son.

However, as I considered the situation it made me think of our relationship with God. God didn’t choose us because of our abilities. He chose us because he loved us. In the same way my daughter was picked because she was loved by the twins, we are chosen because we are loved by the Father.

In his opening to the church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul reinforced the chosenness of the people of God. He reminds us that through Christ, we are adopted into his family. Paul was imprisoned in Rome when he wrote this letter, but he wasn’t dwelling on his own trials. He seems to be empowered to proclaim the love of God through the trials.

Ephesians 1:4-5
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.

We were chosen by God before we could do anything to earn his love. His love for his children has been present since before he created the world. We did nothing to earn his love, and can do nothing to keep it.

Our only job is to accept it.

His love is unconditional. It’s not grudgingly given - it is his “great pleasure.” So what should our response to his love be? If we cannot earn his love does that mean we can live however we want?

Far from it. The depth of God’s love encourages us to trust him and his commands for our lives. We obey his word because we are loved, not so we can be loved. We read the Bible, pray, serve others, and are transformed because we are chosen by God.

Questions:
Do you feel loved by God? Do you feel like you need to earn that love? How are you reflecting the knowledge that you are loved and chosen by God?

Next Steps:
Spend five minutes meditating on the Love of God while listening to this beautiful old hymn, “The Love of God,” by Bethany Baynard and Dinah Wright.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I don’t deserve your love. I can’t comprehend a love I don’t earn, but I am grateful for it. I am grateful that I have been chosen and loved by you. Thank you for never forsaking me, even though I often forsake you. Help me to live into the reality of your love. Help me love you more with every breath I take. Amen.

Series Theme Verse:

Ephesians 1:5
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.

This post was written by Julie Mabus, a Whitehouse attendee and a regular contributor to the Daily LivingItOut.