Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan (Ephesians 1:11).

I’m pretty sure I started bugging my parents for a dog right about the time I first learned how to talk. It was always made clear to me, however, that it just wasn’t the right time for us to get one. I’d beg and plead to at least go and look at the pet store, they would give in, and then I’d inevitably fall in love with one of the dogs before being carried out sobbing.

After years of pleading though, my parents finally agreed that it was time for us to get a dog. We decided on a breeder, and then drove up to meet the puppies. The breeder pointed out the “perfect” pups and mentioned she would be keeping them for show dogs. We could have our pick of the others. We settled on a little girl with one ear that stuck straight up and one ear that flopped over. This flaw may have rendered her “imperfect,” but we still thought she was perfect for us.

The hardest part, was even though we knew which puppy was ours, we still couldn’t take her home yet. She was too young and needed to remain with her mother a while longer. During those weeks, I knew I had a dog; I just didn’t have her with me yet. I’d resort to daydreaming about all the fun stuff we were going to do together and the tricks I’d teach her, and I kept getting more and more excited about bringing her home. By the time she did come home, I’d built up so much anticipation I could hardly bear it. Even though I’d only met her once and she hadn’t done anything to earn my love, I couldn’t wait for her to be united with our family.

When I think of how God has chosen me to become a part of His family, I’m sometimes tempted to believe there’s no way He would have actually picked me if given the choice. I assume He had to let me in only because He was bound by His word. My logic goes something like this: God promises to receive anyone who trusts Jesus, and I’ve trusted Jesus. So, even though He probably doesn’t like me and surely doesn’t need me, He had no choice but to let me in lest He go back on His promise.

But that’s not what the Bible tells us at all. The Bible makes it clear that God chose each one of us personally. Not just to be His pets, but to be His adopted children, complete with full rights as His sons and daughters, even including an inheritance.

What’s amazing to me though, is that He chose all of us in advance—even before we were united with Christ. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find out God was thinking of you much the same way I was thinking of my dog before she was united with our family. I knew she was going to be mine; it was just a matter of time. And the longer I waited, the more excited I got for us to be together. God knew you were going to be His, and the longer He waited, the more excited He got about being with you.

The difference though, is the only thing I could do was wait. God, however, was actively orchestrating the events of your life to lead you straight to Him. He knew how badly He wanted you specifically, so He did whatever it took to bring you home.

In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace… (Ephesians 1:7).

One of my favorite weekend activities growing up was riding my bike to the local arcade and blowing my heard-earned paper route money on video games.

We had a few different arcades in town, but my favorite was the huge one inside the mall. This arcade was not only the first place to play the latest games, it was the place you went to test your joystick skills against the best players in town.

But as much as I enjoyed beating other kids at Street Fighter II, my favorite activity was filling my pockets with prize tickets from the carnival style games. I’d dump quarter after quarter into Skee-Ball, the creepy shoot-out-the-clown’s-teeth-with-a-water-gun game, and of course, Whack-a-Mole.

The better you did at these games, the more tickets you earned. And the more tickets you earned, the more stuff you could buy from the prize counter.

These prizes ranged from single-ticket items like stickers and tattoos all the way up to a full-on Sega Genesis console for some ridiculously huge quantity.

But what would have happened if I went to the counter and attempted to redeem real money for the Sega Genesis? I’d probably be told to come back when I had enough tickets—the only currency they accepted there.

In a lot of ways, we do the same thing when we look at the junk in our lives and attempt to overcome it by being a better person. We look at the debt of sin we’ve accrued and hope that by going to church, doing good works, or being a “nice enough person,” we can tilt the balance sheet back in our favor.

But that’s not how forgiveness works in God’s eyes. You may as well be trying to buy your way into Heaven with arcade tickets.

The truth is, the only currency that can pay for your forgiveness is the blood of Jesus. It’s His blood that has the power to redeem you and provides forgiveness for your sins—not your ability to be a good person.

This is great news though, because once you realize your good behavior has nothing to do with you earning forgiveness, you can rest assured that bad behavior can never cause you to lose it.

Thankfully, God doesn’t dole out His forgiveness the way an arcade game distributes tickets—in small batches, and only if you win. He offers it to you solely as a gift of His grace.

Furthermore, He forgave all your sins the moment you put your trust in Christ.

You’ve been fully forgiven. You’ve been fully redeemed. Your debt has been paid.

So now, instead of trying to earn enough tickets to get to Heaven by playing Whack-a-Mole with your sin, you can relax and join Jesus over at the air hockey table—knowing that even if you lose, you will still be loved unconditionally, forgiven completely, and accepted fully.

This post is an excerpt from my new book, 52 Amazing Things That Became True of You the Moment You Trusted Christ. If you enjoyed what you read here, be sure to check out the book for 51 more awesome truths about how God sees you!