_{I have chosen you!}

(George Mylne, "Fear Not!" 1854)  LISTEN to audio!  Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

"Fear not, I have chosen you!" Isaiah 41:9, 10

Christian reader, God says to you, "I have chosen you!" This is a great mystery—but it is a comforting truth. God does not tell you WHY He chose you. He only tells you the simple fact. It is not for you to question it, or to shrink from it—but to receive it, and be thankful.

God was free to love you—or free to loathe you.
He was free to choose you—or free to reject you.
He says, "I have chosen you!" Believe what God says, and rejoice. "Before the mountains were brought forth, before He had formed the earth and the world," God had chosen you! "From everlasting to everlasting, He is God." From everlasting to everlasting He loved—He chose—He delighted in His people.

Fellow-sinner, if God says, "I have chosen you," He says it . . .
  to encourage you;
  to strengthen you;
  to sanctify you;
  that you may rest upon the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure,
  that you may look away from self, and see that salvation is altogether of the Lord.

God chose you, "not according to your works; but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given you in Christ Jesus before the world began." 2 Timothy 1:9

Fellow-sinner, you are . . .
  loved in Christ;
  chosen in Christ;
  called in Christ;
  saved in Christ!
Here is your foundation; here your hope; here your safety—you were "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world!"

This is to humble you—as well as to exalt you.

This is to make you weep—as well as cause you to rejoice.

You are vile in yourself—but chosen to indescribable honor!

You are poor in yourself—but chosen to unspeakable riches!

You are naked in yourself—but chosen to eternal glory!

Child of God, never lose your hold of this precious truth. God has revealed it, that you might delight in it. Let this be the brightest jewel in your crown. This the sweetest cordial to your heart—that God says to you, "Fear not, I have chosen you!"

As you sit at the feet of Jesus;
as you lay your mouth in the dust, and cry, "Unclean, unclean!"
as you take all the shame to yourself, and give all the glory to God,
let this comfort delight your soul—
God has said, "Fear not, I have chosen you!"

"God chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world!" Ephesians 1:4 (amplified bible)