Jesus Chose You

Isaiah 7:14-15—Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

At Christmas, we often look back this passage in Isaiah and focus on the prophesy of the Virgin birth foretold in verse 14.  But when we read the full context in verse 15, we learn that the baby born of this Virgin birth will “eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.”  Have you ever considered that Jesus might have had a choice, the same choice we all have?  God had a choice in coming to Earth at all, but the act of coming as a baby, just like we all do, created a lifetime of choice for His Son, Jesus Christ.  At any time, Jesus could have said, “You know what, these people are simply not worth it.”  But He did not.  He chose a sin-free life so that He could save us and show us the way to intimate connection with God.  He chose to surround Himself with people living on the edge of society, to show love and compassion to people who had felt nothing to but rejection and isolation.  His best friends did not really understand who He was.  He had no earthly companion who could truly understand Him or His Ways.  Despite all that, He still chose to suffer for us.  He still chose to bear the weight of our sin, to pay the debt we incurred – a price He did not have to pay because He chose to live a sin-free life.  We should never, for one moment, think that His choices, His pain, or His suffering were easier for Him because He is God – He came to experience life as a human, and every part of His existence was just as hard for Him as it is for us. 

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, give thanks to God for sending His Son Jesus to live and experience life as a human being, with all the same questions and temptations that every human experiences.  Rejoice in the brilliance of His divine plan to send His Son as a baby who had a choice and who chose to save us.  Praise God for His undying love and devotion to you, His creation.