Daily Devotional
"Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan."
Joshua 24:2-3a
Before there was a chosen people, before there was a covenant, before there was a nation called Israel, there was a pagan family in a pagan city serving pagan gods. Abraham’s father Terah was an idol worshiper. There was nothing special about this family, nothing that made them worthy of God’s attention, nothing that merited His grace.
And yet God said, “I took your father Abraham.” God took him. God reached down. God initiated. God chose.
This is the scandalous nature of grace. It surprises us every time. We don’t find God; God finds us. We don’t choose God first; God chooses us. We weren’t seeking; we were serving other gods, living for other priorities, worshiping other things. And God reached into our darkness and said, “I’m choosing you.”
Maybe you grew up thinking you were a Christian because your parents were Christians. Or maybe you came to faith later and you think it was because you finally made the right choice. But the truth that Scripture reveals again and again is that God chose you before you chose Him. He pursued you before you pursued Him. He loved you before you loved Him.
This changes everything. It means your salvation isn’t based on your goodness, your family heritage, your religious performance, or your spiritual insight. It’s based entirely on God’s gracious initiative. And if God can reach into a pagan family in ancient Mesopotamia and create a people for Himself, He can reach anyone.
That family member you’ve been praying for? That friend who seems so far from God? That coworker who mocks Christianity? The same God who took Abraham can take them too. Don’t give up. Keep praying. Keep witnessing. Keep trusting that the God who initiates grace is still at work.
Today's Challenge
Think about your own salvation story. How did God pursue you? What were you "serving" before He took you? How does understanding that God chose you first change the way you view yourself and others?
Prayer
Father, thank You that grace always surprises us because it comes from You, not from us. Thank You for taking me, choosing me, pursuing me when I was far from You. Help me never to forget that my salvation is entirely Your work, not mine. And give me faith to believe that You can reach the people I love who don't yet know You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
