In my favorite movie of all time (insert shameless plug here), Elizabethtown, there’s a scene where one of the characters, Claire, tells another that they are substitute people. They fill in when the person you really wanted to be with isn’t around.

I know that feeling. I’ve felt like that in the past. Like the only reason someone would talk to me was because the person they really wanted to talk to was AWOL. I felt like I wasn’t anybody’s first choice.

I bet you’ve felt like that. It’s like being a part of that dreaded kickball selection process and it comes down to you and one other. It’s the humiliation of having the team captain pick the other person, which leaves you unpicked but automatically sent to the other team. Ahh, the agony and ecstacy of the glory days of kickball!

The good news of the gospel is that you are not a substitute person to God. He picked you, chose you before you were born, because He wanted you. Not because the person He really really wanted wasn’t available. He wanted you.

He had you on His mind when He went to that cross. He decided He’d rather go through hell for you than be in heaven without you. He thought you were worth dying for.

And the part that gets me every time. If if had only been you, He still would have gone through it all, just to win your heart. If it had been me, He would have suffered through Calvary.

Christianity shouldn’t be a somber occasion. It should be a joyous remembrance of how the Father is crazy for you. It should be day after day of unbroken gratitude that Jesus thought you were to die for.

Remember this always. You may not matter to some people and you may not think much of yourself some days, but you matter a whole lot to God every day. He’s got you tattooed on His hands and on His heart.

Thank you, Abba, that you really are very very fond of us!