It is simply amazing and mysterious that God chose me and you before the foundation of the earth. He chose us to be like Him, to follow Him, and to obey Him. That’s right, He chose us for the purpose of obedience.

Salvation is a mystery to us. The prophets who first prophesied about the coming Messiah didn’t understand what was going on. The angels even want to know more about what is going on (really…check out 1 Peter 1:12). And we so often take this salvation for granted.

Salvation from our sins, because by our sins we are separated from God our creator, is the most amazing and powerful act of love. God sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to live here on the earth. He lived, and died a gruesome, torturous death. But then He overcame death on the third day, rose from the grave, and offered to us the opportunity to experience eternal life with Him.

But that is not the end of the story. While the gift of free life is indeed free, we are commanded to obey as a result. We can’t do any work to earn that gift, but once we receive it our only desire should be to obey the One who freely gives life to us. 1 Peter 1:1-2 says that we were chosen…to obey Jesus Christ. Are you being obedient? What has He asked you to do? Are you doing it? It may be something small or something very big. Either way, remember that you were chosen by God, not only to spend eternity in Heaven with Him, but to obey Him now.