Our FOUNDATIONS are built on a new identity...

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him... Ephesians 1:4

The crowd are silent in expectation as the presenter holds his thumb on the flap of the golden envelope, poised and ready for the big reveal. The background music grows ever tenser as the judges look helplessly towards their final acts, desperate to see them on the winners podium with sparkling confetti flying around their head. Then the drum roll quickens, the reminder of the phone lines long closed, and then there is deafening silence before these immortal words...

"And the winner of the X FACTOR 2008 is..... SILENCE........for a very long time................... more SILENCE....... and then..... ALLLLEEXXXANDRA!!!!" The crowd go wild. The crowd cry hallelujuah as another diva is born. The crowd go home.

I have often wondered what it must be like to stand before crowds of millions, knowing that you have been put through to the final round and basking in the knowledge that someone's vote made you special.

And then I think of what the Bible says about me. And maybe I know how it feels already? Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that you and I have been chosen by God? We have been picked out from the crowd by the ultimate judge.

Now when it comes to X Factor, everyone knows the difference between Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh. To be chosen by Simon you have to be the best, you have to be a unique talent, impressive, perfect in every way and packed with potential for success. You have to be good looking, a great singer and able to strut your stuff. To be chosen by Louis Walsh? You simply have to be Irish. He will always go for one of the clan anyday.

I am convinced that God is much more like Louis Walsh than Simon Cowell.

And you can quote me on that. Why? Because we are set apart as special (btw that is what "holy" actually means) not because we have some amazing talent but because we are part of the clan - God's own flesh and blood. It is not because we have gifts to offer but because Jesus is a gift himself that we make it through to bootcamp.

Perhaps our most important foundation is the wonderful knowledge that God lovingly picked us out and chose us to be his child. Sometimes I wonder if our prayers should be less like a "pick me" grovel to an impersonal judge and more like a grateful acceptance speech. Sometimes I wonder if I really understood how blameless I am in his eyes, whether I would stop trying to improve on my performance but simply begin to sing the victors song.

FOUNDATION CHECK: Have you taken time today to remember how God chose you before he even made the world? How does that make you feel? About yourself? About God? About your place in the world?