" ... the Lord Thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself..."

And I will put my spirit within you 

And cause you to walk in my statutes, 

And ye shall keep my judgements, 

And do them. " 

Ezekiel 36:27

Lately I've been dwelling much on God's purpose for us. I've thought about His choosing us to be a people that is special to Him. 

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: 

The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, 

Above all people that are upon the face of the earth." 

Deuteronomy 7:6

I've been pondering on the word "special". Why are we "special" to the LORD? Is it because of something we have done? 

No. None of us deserved God's mercy. 

Ecclesiastes says it best...

"For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

 Ecclesiastes 7:20

Then why did God show mercy to a people that disobeyed from the beginning?

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, 

and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart 

was only evil continually."

 Genesis 6:5

Why Lord, ... why did you choose us? Why,... when we've profaned your name... in our actions, in our thoughts?

Then I found a verse that has been with me for the last couple of weeks... I've never read it in such a way before. 

"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; 

I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, 

But for mine holy name's sake..." 

Ezekiel 36:22

Because of His HOLY name... His Holy Name.

" And I will sanctify my Great name, which was profaned among the heathen... "

Ezekiel 36:23

For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: 

For how should my name be polluted? 

And I will not give my glory unto another." 

Isaiah 48:11

God's love for us. How good He is... to make us a special people unto Himself. All because of His love and faithfulness.

Today I'm grateful for the beautiful reminder that God chose me... not because of my righteousness, not because of my love for Him, not because of anything I have ever done to deserve His love,

... but because of His Holy name. Because He chooses to make me clean. 

He sprinkles clean waters upon me... He gives me a new heart... He gives me a new spirit... He takes away the stony heart... and gives me a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25,26)

"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, 

And will not remember thy sins. " 

Isaiah 43:25

Isn't it beautiful, what He does for us? 

And in the process of God's cleansing of our sins... we are to walk in His statues. Our new life would be one of obedience... to sanctify His name in our lives. 

For His glory. For His honor. 

May you give unto the LORD... the glory due unto His name.

Ellie