It refers to John 15:16 "Ye have not chose Me, but I have chosen you."
Martin Luther writes:
"This cuts off and condemns at a stroke all the presumption of spurious saints, who want to do and deserve so much, even to reconciling God and making Him their friend. For what do they do but make the choice and seek to be first, in that their merits precede and God's grace toddles on behind? It is not He who chooses us, but we seek Him and make Him our friend, that we may glory in that He has received much good from us. That is what all the world does in seeking to merit God's grace by previous works. But the Gospel says 'Ye have not chosen Me'. That is, you are My friends not because of what you do, but because of what I do. If it were because of what you do, I should have to regard your merit, but it is because of Me and through Me, because I draw you to Me and give you all that I possess, so that your glory is in nothing but My grace and love, and not your own nor all the world's work or merit. For I have not let Myself be found by you; rather have I had to seek you and bring you to Myself, when you were afar off, without knowledge of God, and were held in the grip of error and condemnation like the rest. But now I am come, and I have called you out of the darkness, before you prayed or did anything about it. Thus you are My friends in that you have received all good from Me, and know that you have received it all for nothing and out of sheer grace."
Ahhhh....The sweetness of Grace!
God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense
Update on reading: Finished Dracula last night on Daily Lit. Putting that on the kids list of books to read. Now on to Jane Austin...Dostoevsky's Devils may just have to wait a little longer.
Update on Knitting: The Apple Leaf Pi pattern is written. Time to test knit.
Update on Exercise: Today I completed my 4th consecutive week (Monday thru Friday) of exercise (Wii My Fitness Coach...not Wii Fit). I like the program. It adjusts the workout to you, the workouts change every time, and you can add a step, hand weights, or a stability ball (and a heart monitor). And it was only $30 vs. $90 for Wii Fit (if you can even find one!). Also you can pick the focus of the day (6 different ones...yoga, stretch, cardio, lower, upper, core), the location, the music, and the length of time you want to workout.
There are a few things I would change about the program but they are insignificant. The "Goldilocks" thing is one. After a portion of the workout she (the trainer...not Goldilocks!) asks if that section was too hard, just right, or too easy. Well...if you aren't able to control the controller and you end up clicking on "too easy" when you really wanted "just right" there is no way to go back and change it. The next time she will "up the intensity" of the workout. I've made that mistake more than once but I haven't noticed the exercises being out of my realm of capability. When that does happen I'll just have to work real hard to click on the "too hard" button! The way to solve this would have been the next screen asking "Do you really mean that!?!". Or having the three choices further apart.
For those who know me, you may be asking how I've managed to workout FIVE days a week.... For FOUR weeks straight. Easy. I bribe myself. It wasn't my idea. I got it from a Ravelry group called Exerstashers. Everyone has figured out their own reward system. Mine is $0.25 for every 15 minutes of working out. On Friday...when I really want to just stay in bed...and justify that by telling myself how I worked out the rest of the week, isn't that enough?....Then my second incentive kicks in. If I work out each day (Tuesdays & Thursdays are easy days...yoga or stretching and only 30 minutes long) then at the end of the week I double the amount I received for that week. It isn't a lot but in four weeks I'm up to $25. And if you think it is weird to pay oneself for exercising....just think how much I'd be paying if I'd join a gym! Way more than that....plus I wouldn't have the incentive of saving up for some special reward. I'm not sure what that reward will be yet....
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