I was struck by something in my time with the Lord today. It was something I have read many times, but has never impacted me like it did today.

I was reading in Romans 9 where Paul explains God’s sovereignty in choosing His children (verses 6-16). In these verses, he writes that God chose Jacob to be the carrier of His covenant with Abraham rather than Esau – the expected one. In fact, Jacob had three strikes against him, but still God chose him. Strike One – Jacob was the younger twin, and traditionally the elder son was given the family blessing. Strike Two – He was not daddy’s favorite. Genesis 25:27,28 tells us that Isaac, their father, favored Esau because he was a man’s man, and Jacob liked to stay home and cook. And Strike Three – Jacob was a deceiver. Not only did he actually trick his father into giving him the blessing in place of his brother, but his name can figuratively mean “he deceives.” Three strikes, you’re out. Or so you’d think.

But the whole point of Romans 9:6-16 is that God chooses who He wants. And He won’t be held to sticking with what is expected. Jacob’s trickery wasn’t beyond God’s providence. He didn’t catch God off-guard. Somehow, in the midst of all of it, God got what He wanted all along.

Romans 9:11, 12 says, “But before [the sons of Isaac] were born, before they had done anything good or bad, [their mother] received a message from God. (This message proves that God chooses according to His own plan, not according to our good or bad works; NLT.)” I love this! God’s choice of Jacob over Esau had nothing to do with their behavior. It had everything to do with His choice. His choice which was beyond reason.

Romans 9:16 says, “So receiving God’s promise is not up to us. We can’t get it by choosing it or working hard for it. God will show mercy to anyone He chooses (NLT).”

Like Paul, I want to think about God’s choosing in light of grace. As I understand grace, it is a gift freely given to anyone who will receive it. I don’t believe that God’s grace is exclusive. I believe it is available to all, but received by few. Those few are “the chosen.” But the point is that the “chosen” are not chosen because of their behavior. But we are chosen because God loves us and His grace is sufficient to erase all of our sins and make up for our shortcomings.

In short, if you’re a believer, God chose you because of His love. Not because of how great you were or how much you had to offer.