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 before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:3–6, ESV
How do we understand the choosing of God? Why are there those who will not be followers of our Lord and know eternal salvation? How can I be certain of my salvation? These questions plague the minds of many in life, and the reality is that we are not to fully understand, but we are to trust in the promises given to us. Baptism is one key of the faith that helps us to know and understand the salvation of our Lord. We are saved not by our good works but by God’s grace, and when we are brought to the waters of Baptism, that is an act of grace that brings us into the family of faith. When we trust in the promises given to us in those waters, we find the hope that our Savior desires for us to cling to all of our days and trust in Him and His promises. We are promised the Holy Spirit through that act, and once the Holy Spirit is in us, we cannot be taken away from God. Sadly, not all receive the Holy Spirit as their hearts are hardened against God. For those of us in the faith, it is hard for us to understand how one could reject the movement of the Holy Spirit and the questions of whether they were born to live eternally outside of God, but this we do not know or understand fully. Some may seemingly reject God, but it may be more that they reject the people who may have hurt them and caused them to be blinded against God’s glory. We don’t know how God’s salvation works within the heart of another, but we are to be careful of our witness. There are those that God has chosen to whom we are meant to go and proclaim His glory, and it is not for us to know whether a heart will move in the proclamation of the Gospel. It is for us to know the salvation promise that He has given to us who have been chosen by His grace and mercy and seek out the one that may be caught in the wilderness seeking out our Lord that he or she too may know the security given to all whom our Lord has chosen.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.