"I chose you" (John 15:16)

​These words of Jesus remind me of the PeeWee baseball team I was on in the summer of 1965.  It was the only year that I was on an official baseball team (though I loved playing baseball and softball with the neighborhood friends).  But as I remember it, I had just moved to a new town with my family.  And our neighbor Scott, a year older, and an athlete all through his life, chose me to be on his team.  And 60 years later I can still remember the excitement of being chosen!!  Though it was a big mistake for Scott, the captain of the Olson Jewelers team,   Because I only had one hit the whole season.  But I will always remember being chosen for the team!
 
As we read in John 15, Jesus chose His disciples.  Not only those first disciples that walked with him before HIs resurrection.  But also each and every one of us.
As Peter writes, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people." (1 Peter 2:9).  
And the Apostle Paul tells us that "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4).  And in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 he writes, "For we know brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you,"
 
So how do we respond to being chosen by God?  And what are we chosen for?
 
Maybe we should answer that second question first:  we are chosen to be loved by God.  We are chosen to be His redeemed people.  We are chosen to be those for whom God sent His Son to save us from sin, death and the devil.  We are chosen to be with Him now and forever.  We are chosen to follow Him and His way now and forever.
 
It sounds like being chosen by God in Christ is much, much better than being chosen for the PeeWee baseball team!  And if I am still excited about being chosen for that baseball team, then imagine the excitement and all the emotion of gratitude and joy we can have as we are chosen by God!!