Did you ever watch kids choose up teams to play a game?  I'm sure you remember as a kid being a part of that process.  Some kids are chosen right away because they are good at the game or popular.  Some are surprised that they are chosen for the team they get on.  Some don't want to be on the team they are picked for.  Perhaps their friend is on the other team.  Sometimes one of the captains intentional chooses the less able and unpopular, with the inevitable result that the game is lopsided and no fun for anyone.  No matter how it is done it seems that invariably someone ends up crying or emotionally hurt by the process.  

But in nearly every situation where I have watched this happen, there is a kid in the group who reaches out to the disappointed/hurt/crying kid Or who promotes a compromise solution that makes the team more even OR who volunteers to swap teams even though they know the other team will lose or they will be seperated from their best friend.  And as much as your heart is torn for the hurt caused through the process, it is filled with gratitude/joy/pride over the one who tries to lift up another and make the thing work.

(By the way, this is one of the great skills of life that is being lost as kids play more and more organized sports and less and less 'pick up' games.)

The agony of being "chosen," of feeling wanted, of being counted valuable in the eyes of your peers, of being part of the right team.  These are things that we might have struggled with in the development of our childish self-esteem, and which we may still struggle with as we grapple with our identity in this world.

God, however, has no hesitations or struggles when it comes to us.  He wants us on HIS team.

He chose us!  Before the first ball was thrown or clock started or kick made or gun fired.  Before Creation and life began, He chose us as His!  He sees us as valuable as worthy as desirable.  He wanted us and so he Chose us.  We are IN HIM.  On His Team!!!

And it doesn't matter how athletic or popular or strong or coordinated we are.  It doesn't matter that we are undeserving, that we fail, that we rebel, that we doubt, that we question.  It doesn't matter because BEFORE HIM we are Holy & Blameless.  The NIV translations says that he chose us to be Holy and Blameless IN HIS SIGHT.

My 6 year old had a tee ball game last night.  In the 3rd inning the coach let him be the kid who stands on the pitchers mound.  It's TEE ball mind you, there is no pitching-but my son wanted to be the pitcher and when he went out to that mound he had the hugest smile you ever saw on his face.  IN MY SIGHT--at that moment--he was the greatest kid in the world.  You see his joy filled me with joy.  It didn't matter that 2 minutes later he was playing in the dirt!

God knows we aren't holy and blameless in our actions.  He sees us playing in the dirt, but He also sees the best in us and He blesses us beyond what we deserve and then calls us to live up to His calling.  And while we are in process--learning, trying, failing, and growing--he keeps right on calling us His own.