God’s Own Possession

“For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession” (Psalms 135:4).

When I think about Jacob, I think about his young age when he deceived his older brother Esau and his father Isaac.  He was a deceiver.  And as we know, Jacob was also deceived by his mother’s brother Laban.  For 20 years, Jacob worked for Laban.  He deceived and was deceived.  You see, Jacob had nothing good in himself that he should have been chosen by the Lord as His treasured possession.  But God has chosen him for His own possession.  This is God’s sovereign gracious choice.  Jacob does not deserve it.  And God chose Jacob “for Himself”.  For Himself, the Lord chose Jacob and through Jacob God sent Jesus Christ to this world in order to save us.  And because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we became God’s treasured possession.  This is God’s pure act of grace in making His possession.