“I have been chosen!” The three-eyed green aliens in Toy Story wanted so badly to be chosen. If you saw Toy Story, you certainly remember The Claw! Our family enjoyed all of the Toy Story franchise. We laughed and cheered the dramatic rescue by The Claw and the aliens in Toy Story 3.
“To be chosen” is a great feeling. Do you remember how you felt as an elementary student when you were picked as teams were divided? Do you recall the sensation of knowing someone liked you as a teenager? How about the excitement of being picked for that first real job? All of those events evaporate in the significance of being chosen by God.
We have been chosen – chosen to be adopted by God, chosen to be co-laborers with God, chosen to be blessed by God, chosen to declare His praise and give Him glory.
- God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. (Colossians 3:12a CEV)
- But you are a chosen people. (1 Peter 2:9a NIV)
- We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. (1 Thessalonians 1:4 NLT)
- But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT)
- God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends. He planned all of this so that we who had already focused our hope on Christ would praise him and give him glory. (Ephesians 1:11-12 GWT)
A scene near the end of the original Toy Story shows crestfallen Buzz Lightyear pessimistically confessing, “I’m just a toy. A stupid little insignificant toy.”
Woody earnestly disagrees, “Whoa, hey, wait a minute. Being a toy is a lot better than being a Space Ranger.” Buzz sardonically challenges him, but Woody continues, “No, it is. Look, over in that house is a kid who thinks you are the greatest, and it’s not because you’re a Space Ranger, pal, it’s because you’re a toy! You are his toy.”
We have been chosen! Not by fat or by chance or by The Claw, but we were chosen by God. We are much more than just a toy to our Heavenly Father. We enjoyed the full benefits of adoption into heaven’s family. That makes us special. We are His!
