Chosen by God
20/01/08 21:30
Could you
imagine the moment? Ananias was in prayer when
suddenly, from out of nowhere, the Voice of the Lord
spoke to him. “Ananias.” Once again the
Eternal broke into the temporal to intervene in the
lives of men! “Yes, Lord.” Ananias
replied. “I am here.”
“I want you to go to a house on Straight Street. There is a man there by the name of Saul of Tarsus. At this very moment he is praying and in a vision he sees a man by the name of Ananias coming to this house and placing his hands upon him to restore his sight.”
But Ananias replied, “But Lord, I have heard all about this man and how much harm he has caused Your people. Why, I have even heard that he has come here with the authority of the chief priest to arrest anyone who calls upon Your name.” I don’t think Ananias wanted to go! But nevertheless, God told him to go. “Go on thy way, Ananias, for this man is My chosen instrument to carry My name to the Gentiles.”
Throughout history God has chosen many different vessels to carry His Name. Think of the awesome privilege of being chosen and used by the Creator of all things. What does He look for in a person? I wonder what kinds of qualifications are necessary? I wonder if things would be different if God required us to fill out applications and write out resumes? Somehow, I just can’t see the Holy One pouring over resumes to see who was the most qualified. If God be for you… we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! God chooses men and women who will obey His commands. It doesn’t matter so much the vessels rather than the One who makes that vessel. If God asks you to do something –He gives you the qualifications to see that it gets done. Our part is to ask ourselves, are we willing to be a willing vessel? It may mean that we have to clean up our act, sacrifice our time, or even put ourselves in harm’s way. What if you had discovered that you were chosen by God to be used by Him? Well, you have! The Bible says that God has chosen the Church since the foundations of the world. God has determined that the Church would be His vessel in these last days to proclaim His Name and the Gospel of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! Do you know that you have been chosen? Are you a willing vessel? Can He count on using you?
Now, there is something very interesting in this account of Paul’s ordination. We all are aware that God had chosen Paul, but we may fail to see that God had also chosen Ananias. Didn’t God choose Ananias to go and pray for Paul? Yes, He did. But notice how God put it to Ananias. Acts.9:12 “In a vision he (Paul) has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” Did you notice that God didn’t say that Paul had seen you, Ananias, but rather, God said, Paul has seen a man named Ananias. I truly believe that God spoke this just the way that He wanted. For if Ananias would have refused to be used by God, God would have found another man named Ananias to go pray for Paul! The question isn’t whether God chooses people to carry out His will. The question is will God choose you to carry out His will?
“I want you to go to a house on Straight Street. There is a man there by the name of Saul of Tarsus. At this very moment he is praying and in a vision he sees a man by the name of Ananias coming to this house and placing his hands upon him to restore his sight.”
But Ananias replied, “But Lord, I have heard all about this man and how much harm he has caused Your people. Why, I have even heard that he has come here with the authority of the chief priest to arrest anyone who calls upon Your name.” I don’t think Ananias wanted to go! But nevertheless, God told him to go. “Go on thy way, Ananias, for this man is My chosen instrument to carry My name to the Gentiles.”
Throughout history God has chosen many different vessels to carry His Name. Think of the awesome privilege of being chosen and used by the Creator of all things. What does He look for in a person? I wonder what kinds of qualifications are necessary? I wonder if things would be different if God required us to fill out applications and write out resumes? Somehow, I just can’t see the Holy One pouring over resumes to see who was the most qualified. If God be for you… we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! God chooses men and women who will obey His commands. It doesn’t matter so much the vessels rather than the One who makes that vessel. If God asks you to do something –He gives you the qualifications to see that it gets done. Our part is to ask ourselves, are we willing to be a willing vessel? It may mean that we have to clean up our act, sacrifice our time, or even put ourselves in harm’s way. What if you had discovered that you were chosen by God to be used by Him? Well, you have! The Bible says that God has chosen the Church since the foundations of the world. God has determined that the Church would be His vessel in these last days to proclaim His Name and the Gospel of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! Do you know that you have been chosen? Are you a willing vessel? Can He count on using you?
Now, there is something very interesting in this account of Paul’s ordination. We all are aware that God had chosen Paul, but we may fail to see that God had also chosen Ananias. Didn’t God choose Ananias to go and pray for Paul? Yes, He did. But notice how God put it to Ananias. Acts.9:12 “In a vision he (Paul) has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” Did you notice that God didn’t say that Paul had seen you, Ananias, but rather, God said, Paul has seen a man named Ananias. I truly believe that God spoke this just the way that He wanted. For if Ananias would have refused to be used by God, God would have found another man named Ananias to go pray for Paul! The question isn’t whether God chooses people to carry out His will. The question is will God choose you to carry out His will?
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