Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 10:41, “Not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses.”
Being registered to vote not only gets you a seat at the table to participate in the election of our governing officials, it also makes you eligible to be selected to serve on a jury. If your name is chosen for potential jury duty, there is yet one more step before you might serve. The attorneys go through a process of vetting jurors, which is called voir dire, to determine whether one might be biased in a way such that they cannot consider the issues of the case fairly. This time of questioning, which translated from French means “to speak the truth,” allows the attorneys to dismiss a juror if facts concerning their background, education, occupation, beliefs or any other relevant topic might taint their perspective. The attorneys are limited by law as to how many jurors they may dismiss, so there is a balancing act of deciding how tolerant they want to be as they do the interviews, for holding out for the perfect jury might backfire terribly. And just as not everyone who is eligible to be a juror actually serves, so were just a few of those eligible to see Jesus after he arose from the dead chosen to witness His resurrection. Similarly, many if not most of those who hear and know of Jesus today do not follow Him as Lord and Savior.
But God is not holding out for the perfect group to call to Himself. He does not elect some who have all the right answers and the perfect background, not does He refuse us based on some trait that might render us less appealing or effective. He chooses us knowing full well our fallen state and sinful tendencies. He does not interview us as candidates for selection. He chose us out of love, fully capable of seeing where we came from and all that we would do and not do with the grace that He bestows. Your history may be a cause for shame or glory, just as your decisions of today. But God is not evaluating you on how you perform to see if you’ve earned your spot. He is leading and calling you with His Spirit in the hopes of conforming you to the image of His Son and bringing to Himself the glory He deserves. So let the God whose chose you lead you where He wants you, as one who is witness to His lovingkindness and full forgiveness.
As we seek Him today, live out your election as a bone fide witness to the everlasting King of glory.
Have a terrific Monday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
