"For you are a holy people to the Lord you God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments." Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (NIV)
The people of Israel were called holy because they were "set apart" and called to "abstain from every kind of impurity" as God's chosen people. Sometimes we see the word holy and we automatically begin to disqualify our self (ok, I know you don't because you're a super saint, but I'm still striving). We equate holy with The Holy One or Perfect and thus we're not capable of being holy, but 1Peter 1:16 says "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." Verse 14 repels the excuse that "we're human" with "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." In other words, that excuse will fly as long as we don't know any better, but once we know better, we're accountable and we are to be holy in a moral sense...pure, upright. Yes, mankind is sinful in nature, BUT as a believer our sinful nature should sin-less the more we grow and know our Father in Heaven.
The Full Life Study Bible study notes reflect that "God's choice of Israel was motivated by his love for them. Moreover, God promised to faithfully keep his covenant and show mercy to generation after generation of 'those who love him and keep his commands'." That was the Old Testament and I'm grateful for the history and foundation of the Old Testament. Nevertheless, I am persuaded that God's choice of us is motivated by His love for us and solidified by Jesus' death on the cross. There's power in knowing that God has promised to keep his covenant of love to a thousand generations! To that point, just as God promised to love the generations, we have to stand in the gap and pray for the generations. We have to pray for our children's children and their children's children.
Heavenly Father, we pray right now for the wives that our sons will 'find' and the husbands that our daughters will marry. We pray and believe that our children will receive your word as the ultimate authority for their lives. He/she will abide in your love and hide your word in his/her heart. We declare your word manifested in their lives, in that they will be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that shall show forth the praises of you who has called them out of darkness and delivered them into the marvellous light! We are your treasured possessions and we thank you for choosing us. In Jesus name, Amen!
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