… our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:13b-14)
Are you special to someone? It is a very natural longing of the human heart to be wanted. Some find that special person, but not everyone. But regardless of our natural experience, God seeks us, as someone to be special to Him, and someone to whom He can be special. As these verses make clear to achieve this was no easy task. First the Lord Jesus had to give Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, and with that sacrifice we could be redeemed from everything we had done wrong in God’s eyes and He could utterly cleanse us so that we were pure in His sight. He did that so that we could be special to Him. That we could be those that He could shower with His love. Those that He could care for, nurture and mature into wise experienced believers, who would faithfully trust their God in the ups and downs of life. Have you come to the realisation that you are precious to the Lord, even if you aren’t to anyone else?
And there was a further desire in the Lord’s heart. He didn’t just want a special people. But His longing was that we should be a people that would take after His own character. That we should be those that wanted to do good in any and every situation. It was not sufficient that we should be freed and cleansed, but that our very nature should be changed so that we would be those that were zealous for good works. Has the Lord been able to change you so that a longing to do good and to do good works, in every situation, arises in your heart?