It would only be fitting to begin a journey such as this with one statement:

You are His.

What this means in your life is powerful and unchangeable, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll save the practical stuff for next week. Right now, I
just want you to pause for a moment and think about that truth for a moment.

You are His.

Everything we will talk about or think about over the course of this summer hinges on this one statement. It’s one you must be sure of and I assure you I’m
not making a big deal out of something that should be a little deal. In fact, this is the thing that becomes a little deal way more than it becomes a big
deal and it NEEDS to be a big deal.

It needs to be a big deal because if you aren’t already His none of this will matter to you.

It needs to be a big deal because if you are His and you’re not living like you’re His you’re missing it.

You’re missing the point. Because the point is that when we are His we are taken care of. It doesn’t mean your best friend won’t die of cancer. It doesn’t
mean you won’t fail a class or get dumped or get in fights with your mom. It doesn’t mean your dad won’t leave and it doesn’t mean you’ll be financially
secure for the rest of your life.

It simply and wholly means you are His.

And when you are His you are kept safe. You have the promise that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called
according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) That is the holy, sovereign God working things for YOUR good in HIS way. That is sweet, my friends.

We were once lost in utter darkness with no hope of finding the exit. But “He has rescued us from the dominion f darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

We have been saved from death and saved for the purpose of proclaiming the name of Jesus to the world. If we had no purpose on this earth God will call us Home right now, I’m certain. But there is a world around us – beginning with your friends in your town – that are literally on their way to eternal death unless they hear the truth. You have the truth! Don’t be plagued with silence. Speak!

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are” … “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (1 John 3:1, John 10:28)

I can remember hundreds of times during my childhood and teenage years where a group would gather to play sports. Maybe it was kickball at recess, soccer with friends, or Frisbee after church. Team captains would be picked and everyone else would stand awkwardly in the middle waiting. Waiting to picked. Waiting to be wanted. Waiting to be chosen.

There was nothing better than being picked first. “They want me!” Yes. What a feeling! But equally to match the joy of being picked first is the pang of being picked last. “Why even play if no one wants me?” I would think.

If you feel like a kid being picked last, unwanted and purposeless, cling to the promise that you are His. He has chosen you, called you by name, and ordained your every day before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). There are few things so worthy of celebration than this.

I know how easy it is for you to read these words, yet not let them truly affect you. So my challenge to you this week is simply to believe this. Believe that you are His and that He is in control. I invite you to think about the things that are keeping you from believe that you are His and to surrender them.

Lord,

It’s so hard to remember that I have been called out of this world and into Your Kingdom. It’s so easy to see what is right in front of me and believe that it is better than You. I’m sorry for forgetting this promise that You have called me by name. I’m sorry for forgetting that I am Yours, and living like I am not. Please help me to remember that you have ordained my every moment. Help me to live out each day in the truth and promise that I am Yours. I love you.

Amen.