You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing… – John 15:16, Amplified Bible (AMP)

We must never lose sight of the sobering truth that we did not choose God as our Master. He chose us as His servants. Yes, we did have the part of accepting His call to salvation and then to discipleship, but the call originated with Him, not us.

The fact that Christ initiated the call is significant. Had we recruited Christ to be our God, then we would be in a position of authority over Him. Like the employer that hires an employee to do his/her bidding, we would have hired God to do our bidding – to bless our goals, to further our plans, and to take care of our troubles on our own terms. But we did not recruit God; He recruited us, and because He is the Boss and we are the servants, our task is not to ask God what He can do for us, but to ask God what He wants us to do for Him.

God planted us where we are today for the express purpose of bearing fruit for Him – not once, not twice, but continually, without ceasing. Unlike the farmer who plants his crop once per season, we are to always be planting, for God’s season of salvation never ends. While we are planting, God does invite us to ask Him for good things that we desire. But, we must do so with the understanding that if what is “good” in our eyes interferes with our ability to bear fruit for Him, He will not grant the request. As 1 John 5:14 (AMP) teaches us:

And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.

What is the heart of the matter? It’s not about you and me. It is about God. Our goals are not our own to set, and our plans are not ours to make. We are here to pursue the job that God recruited us for, not the other way around. The sooner we accept that fact, the better our lives will be.

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