Do you know that not only are you chosen by God, but that you are also precious to Him? This passage of Scripture has much to teach us, but for today, I want to concentrate on how dearly loved and cherished each one of us is by God.
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:3-5, emphasis added)
A portion of the New International Version of this passage reads, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him . . .” (1 Pet 2:4, emphasis added)
The word precious means costly; priceless; exquisite; favorite; honored; and treasured. These are the feelings that we humans feel for our very own children. Yet God is telling us that He feels this way about each and every one of us! Why else would He send His one and only Son to become our Savior and Redeemer?
Here are several verses of the Bible that echo the idea that God deeply loves each one of us:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16, underscoring added)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Joh 4:11, underscoring added)
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (Joh 15:9, underscoring added)
Each and every one of us may have been rejected by people at one time or another in our lives. Some of us have lived with a sense of rejection hanging over us due to past life experiences which were evil. But in Christ, we need to remember that we were personally selected by Him to receive His gift of salvation so that He might help us to come to know His perfect, unending and unconditional LOVE. He never forgets about us; He has written us upon the palms of His hands. Each one of us is treasured and honored by our loving God.
In Isaiah 49:15d-16a the Lord says: Yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. . .
Love was God’s reason for salvation and for all of the attendant blessings and scriptural promises that are bestowed upon us. I believe that the apostle Paul echoes the heart of God when he says:
You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men . . . (2 Cor 3:2 NASB)
We, individually, are indelibly written on the tablet of God’s heart never to be erased. The Lord moves heaven and earth to bless us; to save, deliver, heal, and protect us; and to grow us in wisdom and spiritual maturity. Entrust yourself to the incomparable love of God from this moment forward, O beloved child of the King of Kings!
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