God's Choice

The Memorial of St. Matthias and the story of how he was chosen by lot to replace Judas bring to mind again we are who we are because of God's choice.  "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."  (Eph. 1:4) It is not predestination, for our free will and choices (for better or worse) are always in play, but God's love is so strong and over-powering that it puts our response to shame.  "This is love, not that we loved God, but that he has first loved us." (1 Jn 4:10). By sending Jesus to show us his love, he has given us a Lover who is constantly attempting to show us how MUCH God loves us.  We forget that, taken up so much as we are in trying to show or prove our love for him. As our Best Friend, he anticipates our needs and desires, he bends over backwards to put "little things" (and big) in place for us to see.  In this season of flowering dogwoods, for example, do we just drive by without noticing, or do we see them as a treat put there by our God to help us relax in the view of beauty..
Bro. Rene