To the praise of His glory!

Not our own! - Ephesians 1.

We have made Christianity so man-centered - "God wants you to be saved, come choose Jesus, then you will have a happy life and go to heaven."

But Ephesians 1 is full of the opposite. God is the one choosing us before time, and not for man-focused reasons (so I can avoid hell), but for His own purposes; not "so my life will be better right now" but rather "that we should be holy and blameless before him."

We are predestined for adoption - "to the praise of His glorious grace."

We receive an inheritance - "to the praise of His glory."

He works all things, not according to our wishes, but "according to the counsel of his will" - and with the purpose of making us be "to the praise of His glory."

There is nothing man-centered about biblical religion. It is all about God. Initiated by God, carried out by God, completed to the end by God, and for God's purposes.

We are not our own! And even unbelievers are not their own, for they were created by God for His own purposes as well.

But we. It is not that we can choose salvation, and then go live as we wish, as long as we do it in a biblical way;  - that we can decide something and then go pray make sure we have God's stamp of approval on our plans.

It is rather - that we are bought, chosen, redeemed, by One much greater than ourselves, who has saved us in order that we might be bringing Him praise among men; - in order that we should fulfill His purposes, do His bidding, be His ambassadors on earth, proclaim His praises in a dark world. We were made to point to Him. Everything we do, every choice we make, should not be a we-decide-then-get-His-stamp-of-approval, but rather a what-is-Your-bidding-my-Lord.

We are purchased bondservants. Our life is not our own. Our will is not our own. We do not have the jurisdiction over our own time and money. It is all His. The question is not, "what am I allowed to do under Christian liberty?" but rather, "what does Jesus wish me to do?" and "what would most cause others to praise Jesus because of me?"

There is no self-pity; I am His. There is no anxiety; I need but do His bidding, and He will take care of the rest; He owns me. I need not fear my future, for it will be in His service. I can pray, and know that His answers will be good for me; He is wiser than I. He is the Ruler; I am the subject. He is the Lord, I am His glad servant. He chooses, He rules, He works all things as He wishes - to the praise of His glory.