Chosen

1 Peter 2:9-10: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

These verses make me uncomfortable. Being chosen is usually good, like being picked for the team. But that implies something of worth that I would bring, a reason that I was chosen. In this case, I know there is no more value to me than in the person God didn't choose, so that makes it feel random, like a great spiritual lottery. That isn't right either, because God doesn't do random. So there was a reason for choosing me that really has nothing to do with anything I bring to the table. It's confusing and doesn't seem fair.

Since I don't understand the how, maybe it's best to look at the why: So that I can praise God.

After all, if he picks me because of my rugged good looks or ability to do one-armed push-ups, then I can brag about myself. Since He chose me even though there's not a single thing I can do that He needs, all that's left is to tell people," Wow! Can you believe it? He just came along, lifted me out of the mud, cleaned me up and gave me new clothes, and took me home with Him. I still can't figure out why, dirty and smelly as I was."

God took me from darkness into light. My response shouldn't be to obsess over the fairness of it, or to look for something in me that makes me a good choice. Just like I tell everyone about the great deal I got on my last purchase, or about the incredibly lucky thing that happened to me, I should be eager to tell the world about God and what He has done for me.