Do you realize how special you are?

Read Deuteronomy 7.

Do you realize how special you are?

This was a reminder from Moses as he continued to prepare the nation to enter the new land.  They were to take full possession of what God was giving them.  They were to maintain spiritual purity by refusing to partner with unbelievers and worshipping their false gods.

These people were God's people.  They were declared to be holy, chosen, "a people for his treasured possession."

Now, this begs the question: Why?  Why did the LORD choose to love them out of all the nations of the earth?
-They may have been declared holy, but they were not always obedient.
-They may have numbered in the millions but they were not the largest of nations.
Truly, there was nothing about them to warrant such response from God.
The answer is in verse 8.  "But it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery."

And, the more personal question is why did God choose to love you and me?
-We may have made a mess of our lives.
-We may not feel holy or special.
-We may still struggle with disobeying the LORD.
-We may not be the strongest.
-We may not be the best in our field.
-We may not be the best looking.
-We may not have much to offer at all.

1. God sovereignly chose us for Himself.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless." (Ephesians 1:4)
2. God loved us when we were unlovely and forgave us.
"But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5)
3. God wants us to keep growing in our holiness.
"In (Christ Jesus) the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."
Note: This was written to the local church.  We do not grow by ourselves.  We need other believers.

We are not what we want to be, but, praise God, we are not what we were!