Hovering over John 17 this morning. Oh, what a glorious eavesdrop this is! To listen in on the Son as He communes with and petitions the Father concerning His aspirations for His people. There’s a number of repeated themes through this heavenly prayer. Among them, themes of Jesus’ “sent-ness”, of the Father and Son’s “one-ness”, and of the believers’ “given-ness.” And it’s that latter theme which occupies my mind this morning, the contemplation that I am given.

Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, since You gave Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to everyone You have given Him. . . .

“I have revealed Your name to the people You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. . .

“I am not praying for the world but for those You have given Me . . .

“Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am . . . ”

(John 17:1-2, 6, 9a, 24a CSB)

Those You have given Me . . . chew on that for a bit.

We call ourselves Believers, Followers, and Disciples. We take the moniker, Christian, and glory in the designation of being Saints. But what about thinking about ourselves as simply the Given.

Given by the Father to the Son. Why? We really don’t know, do we?

Apart from God’s sovereign determination, bound up in His faithful love and His overflowing grace, there is no reason why we should be the Given. No right, no merit, no intrinsic quality, except that we who were created in the image of God were also purposed by God to have that image recreated in us through the redemption found in Jesus, God’s blessed Son.

To say, “We found Him,” is to claim some work of our own. But to remind ourselves that, while we might have believed it was only because He first chose us to be given, is to remind ourselves that our salvation is all of Him and all for Him.

Given to Jesus, so that He might give us eternal life. Given to Jesus so that He might reveal the Father to us. Given to Jesus so that He would pray for us. Given to Jesus so that, one day, He will come and take us to be where He is.

We are the Given.

Bask in the warmth of that light. Glory in the implications of that reality. Rest secure in the assurance of that divine transaction.

The Given.

Only by God’s wondrous grace. Only for God’s everlasting glory.