Chosen

2 Thessalonians 2:13
"13 As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first* to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth." (NLT)
*God chose you from the very beginning

1 Corinthians 7:23a
"God purchased you at a high price."

Whenever I hear the word "chosen" I immediatly think of two things: Harry Potter, and Frodo Baggins. Luckily, that kind of chosen isn't quite what God meant when He said that He has chosen us. We're not the only ones alive who are capable of defeating the Dark Lord, nor do we have to travel across middle earth with a more than half-naked, emaciated, balding dude who crawls around everywhere and has a split personality. Granted, we are persecuted, and have many hard battles to endure, but I think we got a pretty good deal out of everything...
This is something that I absolutely love, but don't really have a lot of words for. God chose us. He, the creator of the entire universe, chose us. And not only did He choose us, but He actively pursues us, seeking us out. In Sunday Study a little while ago we did some lessons on In The Dust of the Rabbi, looking at what it was like to be a disciple in the 1st century, and what it means to follow Him today. The thing that stuck out to me the most was when it talked about how back then people sought out the Rabbi (I'm pretty sure that's what they called that person at that time, unless I'm remembering the name incorrectly); they traveled to him, tried to find him, and constantly followed him. But with Jesus as the Rabbi, He sought US out; He traveled to us, found us, pursued us. But He never pushes Himself on us; He's a gentleman. I love that example of how much He cares for us; He chose us, He pursues us, He longs for us. I'm not very familiar with very many other "religions", but I don't know of any who has a "god" like that.