The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers. Deut 7:6-8 ESV
Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Deut 9:6 ESV
Dear Father, I’ve been thinking about our future life in the new heaven and new earth a whole lot lately. The more aware I am of my own brokenness and the brokenness all around me, the more I long for the spectacular inheritance you’ve promised your children.
Indeed, the more I gaze at images of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-22:6), I experience intensification of desire and doxological overload. For a life completely devoid of all sin, chaos and evil and a world permeated with the good, true and beautiful has never looked so good. Thank you for being such a shockingly generous God.
Forgive us when we’re still tempted to believe there’s something we could do to make you love us and give us such a glorious hope. And forgive us when we think there’s something we can do to cause you to regret you redeemed us and renege on your promises. Our arrogance and unbelief have infected every cell of our being.
Father, the only reason we’re your treasured people is because you chose to make us your treasure. We certainly didn’t choose you. Apart from the gospel we’d still be hating you, rebelling against you and trying our best to ignore you. But you set your love upon us in eternity, and revealed this great affection when you sent Jesus to be our Redeemer. And we wouldn’t love Jesus unless you’d given us a new heart by the Spirit and the faith we need to receive eternal life.
The only reason we’ll enjoy life in the ultimate land—the new heaven and new earth, is because of the righteousness of Jesus. Apart from Jesus’ righteousness, we have none. We’re still very much a stubborn people, in desperate need of more and more of your grace.
Father, forgive us. Our stubbornness is seen most clearly in our refusal to really believe the gospel; in the ways we still give our hearts to other gods and saviors; and in our multiplied failures to love each other as Jesus loves us and by the ways we serve our neighbors so poorly.
Father, change us. By the same grace you justified us, sanctify us—make us like Jesus. By the same Spirit you brought new life to our hearts, extend new life through us into the world. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ beautiful name.
