What do you think?
Rate this book
He Chose You
He Chose You is a personal message to tweens of God's unconditional love for them. His perfect understanding of the needs of tweens today is shown in each detail revealed to us when Christ's chose to die on the cross for all. Illustrating his points with stories today's tweens will be able to apply to their lives, Lucado reveals to tweens the gifts of the cross.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2002
14 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
Max Lucado
1,201 books5,424 followersWith more than 150 million products in print and several NYT bestsellers, Max Lucado is America's bestselling inspirational author. He serves the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Denalyn, and their mischievous mutt, Andy. His most recent book published in August 2024 and is titled What Happens Next.
https://www.facebook.com/maxlucado/
https://twitter.com/maxlucado
https://www.instagram.com/maxlucado/
https://www.accessmore.com/pd/maxluca...
https://www.facebook.com/maxlucado/
https://twitter.com/maxlucado
https://www.instagram.com/maxlucado/
https://www.accessmore.com/pd/maxluca...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 10, 2012
You know when you want to review a book but it is so precious that you feel you won’t be able to do this task or that your review will never be complete?
No?! Ok… hahaha… But this is how I feel regarding this book. I had to pray a lot more before writing about this masterpiece. There is something in the way that Max Lucado writes that touches you deep inside. You can see through the author for he is so transparent and human, probably a culture influence for dwelling in Brazil (and, of course, I’m not biased for being Brazilian hahaha).
In “He Chose You”, Lucado describes how Jesus, the Son of God, has done EVERYTHING, and I really mean “e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g”, to win your heart. When I was reading this book I was already dreaming with this review, jotting down sentences to be used, underlying paragraphs and thinking of the best words in how to motivate you, reader, to grab this book. You will see that it is an easy read and I couldn’t help but listing here some of the highlights of the book, as follows:
The things we do for love.
The first chapter will probably attract all the romantic readers at once. Max explains how a brave boy makes a huge effort to give his girlfriend a present for being graduating. Among the tasks for the perfect “gift” was to climb the roof of a house to simply collect some flowers & spend ages taking photos with all her friends to make an album. And, for sure he had to face the danger of being a daredevil for the completion of the tasks: bruises for having fallen from the roof, bee attacks for choosing the “wrong” flowers, sunburn for long exposure to the sun lights, and etc.
Awww… the things we do for love. We do our best, we walk extra miles, we fight with animals, we face our fears of heights… “Having squeezed the grapes of our tasks, we drink the sweetest wine of life: the wine of give” (page 4). We do look like God when we give. Now, think of Jesus… He chose you and He wanted to give you a gift. But He gave you much more than expected. He gave His own life for you. For you to live a life with God, for Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Jesus chose you. He chose to die crucified for you. He chose the thorns. As if His life was not enough, the soldiers made a crown of thorns to be set on his head before he was put on the cross. A crown of thorns… A crown of… consequences. Why ‘consequences’? It’s interesting to remember that one of the consequences of Adam and Eve having sinned was “thorns”. In Genesis 3:17-18, God said: 17 “To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce THORNS and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”
Thus, we can see the pain our sin has caused to Jesus in His crown of thorns, consequences of our sin. Jesus took away with HIM all our sins. The Bible says that “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Therefore, how great love God has for us. He wanted to give us the best gift. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus did not need to die for us. But He wanted to. Jesus was beaten on the day of His death several times. He did not need to suffer. But He wanted to. He made many miracles, He stopped the storms and Jesus could have called many angels to stop the beating, to stop the suffering, but He decided to give Himself for us. He gave up His crown on Heaven for a crown of thorns. And all of these He did for YOU! Lucado says that if the soldier had not nailed Him on the cross, Jesus Himself would have taken the hammer and nailed His arm on it (teardrop). Jesus wanted to offer Himself as a sacrifice for you.
Do you remember what it was written on the plate over Jesus’ head on the cross? If not, let me remind you: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Now, my other question: do you know in which language was it written? Actually, not only in one language, but 3: Hebrew (Israel’s one, the language of religion), Latin (Roman’s – the language of the law and the government) and Greek – the language of culture. God had a message for all of them: Jesus Christ is King. Jesus is the King of all peoples. There is no language that God won’t speak. God is speaking to you. He speaks in any language we understand and not always in words. How is God talking to you? In which language or signs He is using to talk to you? To say “I chose you”?
However, I think Jesus did something extra to win our confidence and try to talk to us. The author describes the amusing story when his wife found a mouse in the rubbish bin of their house. Not need to mention that it was Max who needed to do something about it. He can do karate, taekwondo and jiu-jitsu (see?! Other Brazilian influence hahaha). A mouse would be nothing for him. But he didn’t kill it, he just took the rubbish bin outside to free the mouse. Yet, the mouse didn’t stop fighting against the bin, didn’t calm down, it probably felt fear. Max was a threat for the mouse and the mouse KNEW it. If Max were a mouse, he wouldn’t be a threat. Ready for the comparison now? You are the mouse. Max represents God. God wanted to come in the form of human to talk to us, to live LIKE us. To live 33 years with us. God is a God who is close. He is not distant. Jesus did not need to become human. But He wanted to. He wanted you to trust Him.
In addition, Jesus gave so many signs to win our trust. He fulfilled so many prophesies from the old testament in the Bible:
- Jesus was betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41.9)
- His disciples abandoned Him for having felt offended (Psalm 31.11)
- The false accusation against Jesus (Psalm 35.11)
- His silence before the judges (Isaiah 53.7)
- The proof of His innocence (Isaiah 53.9)
- His inclusion among sinners (Isaiah 53.12)
- His crucifixion (Psalm 22.16)
- The scorn of the others (Psalm 109.25)
- The insults He received (Psalm 22.7,8)
- The division of his clothes (Psalm 22.18)
- The prayer for His enemies (Isaiah 53.12)
- God’s forsaken (Psalm 22.1)
- The commitment of His Spirit in God’s hands (Psalm 31.5)
- The bones not broken (Psalm 34.20)
- His burial in a rich man’s grave (Isaiah 53.9)
It is actually stated by Bible scholars that Jesus fulfilled 332 prophecies from the Old Testament! Many a person tried to believe otherwise. Here are some facts:
- Voltaire, the French Philosopher, said: The Bible and the Christianity would finish within 100 years. He died in 1778. The movement continues.
- Friedrich Nietzsche’s pronouncement in 1882: “God is dead”. He believed the expansion of Science would be the end of the faith. The Science expanded; the movement continues.
- The way a Communist dictionary defined the Bible: “It is a collection of fantastic tales without any scientific support”. The Communism is disappearing; the movement continues.
- The discovery made by each person who tried to bury the faith: the same done by the ones that tried to bury its Founder: He didn’t remain in the grave.
The facts: the movement has never been stronger.
Question: How do you explain this? Jesus was a carpenter. Jesus never wrote a book, never managed an office. He never traveled more than 320 Kilometres from His place of birth. His friends abandoned Him. One betrayed Him. The ones He helped, forgot Him. Before His death, they abandoned Him. But after His death they couldn’t resist it. What makes the difference? “His death and resurrection”. When Jesus died, your sin also died. When Jesus resurrected, your hope was also resurrected. The reason for this: the face you see on the mirror.
He… chose… you.
Larissa Fauber
(P.s.: I really thought I wouldn’t be able to write this review, but it’s nice to know that God is able. He chose “me” ;)
No?! Ok… hahaha… But this is how I feel regarding this book. I had to pray a lot more before writing about this masterpiece. There is something in the way that Max Lucado writes that touches you deep inside. You can see through the author for he is so transparent and human, probably a culture influence for dwelling in Brazil (and, of course, I’m not biased for being Brazilian hahaha).
In “He Chose You”, Lucado describes how Jesus, the Son of God, has done EVERYTHING, and I really mean “e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g”, to win your heart. When I was reading this book I was already dreaming with this review, jotting down sentences to be used, underlying paragraphs and thinking of the best words in how to motivate you, reader, to grab this book. You will see that it is an easy read and I couldn’t help but listing here some of the highlights of the book, as follows:
The things we do for love.
The first chapter will probably attract all the romantic readers at once. Max explains how a brave boy makes a huge effort to give his girlfriend a present for being graduating. Among the tasks for the perfect “gift” was to climb the roof of a house to simply collect some flowers & spend ages taking photos with all her friends to make an album. And, for sure he had to face the danger of being a daredevil for the completion of the tasks: bruises for having fallen from the roof, bee attacks for choosing the “wrong” flowers, sunburn for long exposure to the sun lights, and etc.
Awww… the things we do for love. We do our best, we walk extra miles, we fight with animals, we face our fears of heights… “Having squeezed the grapes of our tasks, we drink the sweetest wine of life: the wine of give” (page 4). We do look like God when we give. Now, think of Jesus… He chose you and He wanted to give you a gift. But He gave you much more than expected. He gave His own life for you. For you to live a life with God, for Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Jesus chose you. He chose to die crucified for you. He chose the thorns. As if His life was not enough, the soldiers made a crown of thorns to be set on his head before he was put on the cross. A crown of thorns… A crown of… consequences. Why ‘consequences’? It’s interesting to remember that one of the consequences of Adam and Eve having sinned was “thorns”. In Genesis 3:17-18, God said: 17 “To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce THORNS and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”
Thus, we can see the pain our sin has caused to Jesus in His crown of thorns, consequences of our sin. Jesus took away with HIM all our sins. The Bible says that “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Therefore, how great love God has for us. He wanted to give us the best gift. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus did not need to die for us. But He wanted to. Jesus was beaten on the day of His death several times. He did not need to suffer. But He wanted to. He made many miracles, He stopped the storms and Jesus could have called many angels to stop the beating, to stop the suffering, but He decided to give Himself for us. He gave up His crown on Heaven for a crown of thorns. And all of these He did for YOU! Lucado says that if the soldier had not nailed Him on the cross, Jesus Himself would have taken the hammer and nailed His arm on it (teardrop). Jesus wanted to offer Himself as a sacrifice for you.
Do you remember what it was written on the plate over Jesus’ head on the cross? If not, let me remind you: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Now, my other question: do you know in which language was it written? Actually, not only in one language, but 3: Hebrew (Israel’s one, the language of religion), Latin (Roman’s – the language of the law and the government) and Greek – the language of culture. God had a message for all of them: Jesus Christ is King. Jesus is the King of all peoples. There is no language that God won’t speak. God is speaking to you. He speaks in any language we understand and not always in words. How is God talking to you? In which language or signs He is using to talk to you? To say “I chose you”?
However, I think Jesus did something extra to win our confidence and try to talk to us. The author describes the amusing story when his wife found a mouse in the rubbish bin of their house. Not need to mention that it was Max who needed to do something about it. He can do karate, taekwondo and jiu-jitsu (see?! Other Brazilian influence hahaha). A mouse would be nothing for him. But he didn’t kill it, he just took the rubbish bin outside to free the mouse. Yet, the mouse didn’t stop fighting against the bin, didn’t calm down, it probably felt fear. Max was a threat for the mouse and the mouse KNEW it. If Max were a mouse, he wouldn’t be a threat. Ready for the comparison now? You are the mouse. Max represents God. God wanted to come in the form of human to talk to us, to live LIKE us. To live 33 years with us. God is a God who is close. He is not distant. Jesus did not need to become human. But He wanted to. He wanted you to trust Him.
In addition, Jesus gave so many signs to win our trust. He fulfilled so many prophesies from the old testament in the Bible:
- Jesus was betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41.9)
- His disciples abandoned Him for having felt offended (Psalm 31.11)
- The false accusation against Jesus (Psalm 35.11)
- His silence before the judges (Isaiah 53.7)
- The proof of His innocence (Isaiah 53.9)
- His inclusion among sinners (Isaiah 53.12)
- His crucifixion (Psalm 22.16)
- The scorn of the others (Psalm 109.25)
- The insults He received (Psalm 22.7,8)
- The division of his clothes (Psalm 22.18)
- The prayer for His enemies (Isaiah 53.12)
- God’s forsaken (Psalm 22.1)
- The commitment of His Spirit in God’s hands (Psalm 31.5)
- The bones not broken (Psalm 34.20)
- His burial in a rich man’s grave (Isaiah 53.9)
It is actually stated by Bible scholars that Jesus fulfilled 332 prophecies from the Old Testament! Many a person tried to believe otherwise. Here are some facts:
- Voltaire, the French Philosopher, said: The Bible and the Christianity would finish within 100 years. He died in 1778. The movement continues.
- Friedrich Nietzsche’s pronouncement in 1882: “God is dead”. He believed the expansion of Science would be the end of the faith. The Science expanded; the movement continues.
- The way a Communist dictionary defined the Bible: “It is a collection of fantastic tales without any scientific support”. The Communism is disappearing; the movement continues.
- The discovery made by each person who tried to bury the faith: the same done by the ones that tried to bury its Founder: He didn’t remain in the grave.
The facts: the movement has never been stronger.
Question: How do you explain this? Jesus was a carpenter. Jesus never wrote a book, never managed an office. He never traveled more than 320 Kilometres from His place of birth. His friends abandoned Him. One betrayed Him. The ones He helped, forgot Him. Before His death, they abandoned Him. But after His death they couldn’t resist it. What makes the difference? “His death and resurrection”. When Jesus died, your sin also died. When Jesus resurrected, your hope was also resurrected. The reason for this: the face you see on the mirror.
He… chose… you.
Larissa Fauber
(P.s.: I really thought I wouldn’t be able to write this review, but it’s nice to know that God is able. He chose “me” ;)
September 3, 2023
How I started reading the book
So a friend in my church lent me this book. Initially, she gave me Facing Your Giants which I loved and thereafter I got this one. Having read the title I was rather curious and so started reading...
About the book
The book is a collection of short stories and anecdotes which focus on the themes of the cross. The cross, the nails he bore, the suffering and humiliation of it all, a crown of thorns, jeers of the soldiers, the drink he took for us and so on.
Each chapter introduces an element of the cross and in that, it reads like a collection of short stories.
My experience reading the book
Having had Facing My Giants for prior context to the writing style of Max Lucado I was rather disappointed. Not that this book was bad, but that it felt like it was written for children. Maybe it was, but it felt too childlike and shallow for me.
The theme of the cross was covered well, and despite the chapters being rather short it moved me enough to appreciate the price Jesus paid on my behalf. In that, Max brought me close to Christ.
Things I didn't like about the book
The printed version of the book felt like a waste of pages. I'll explain, hold on.
For instance, the font seemed huge and straight from a children's book. There were sections that were highlighted with stars and designs, however, they did little to help me as a reader.
It felt like a waste of space and a distraction.
Things I liked about the book
I know I've mentioned that it reads like a children's book and it comes across as a criticism. However, in some aspects, this worked incredibly well for the book. I enjoyed the short stories of various children's struggles, be it the child who struggled with pride, the one who couldn't share, the one who ran away from home, or the one who experienced love from a friend.
All of these greatly helped me experience what it might have felt to be humiliated, what I've been saved from and it drew me to the cross.
Overall
I think this book gets a rather low rating compared to most others. It wasn't long enough to expound on its truths adequately and the space it did get it squandered with extra designs that served no purpose.
So It's a humble 2 stars for me.
So a friend in my church lent me this book. Initially, she gave me Facing Your Giants which I loved and thereafter I got this one. Having read the title I was rather curious and so started reading...
About the book
The book is a collection of short stories and anecdotes which focus on the themes of the cross. The cross, the nails he bore, the suffering and humiliation of it all, a crown of thorns, jeers of the soldiers, the drink he took for us and so on.
Each chapter introduces an element of the cross and in that, it reads like a collection of short stories.
My experience reading the book
Having had Facing My Giants for prior context to the writing style of Max Lucado I was rather disappointed. Not that this book was bad, but that it felt like it was written for children. Maybe it was, but it felt too childlike and shallow for me.
The theme of the cross was covered well, and despite the chapters being rather short it moved me enough to appreciate the price Jesus paid on my behalf. In that, Max brought me close to Christ.
Things I didn't like about the book
The printed version of the book felt like a waste of pages. I'll explain, hold on.
For instance, the font seemed huge and straight from a children's book. There were sections that were highlighted with stars and designs, however, they did little to help me as a reader.
It felt like a waste of space and a distraction.
Things I liked about the book
I know I've mentioned that it reads like a children's book and it comes across as a criticism. However, in some aspects, this worked incredibly well for the book. I enjoyed the short stories of various children's struggles, be it the child who struggled with pride, the one who couldn't share, the one who ran away from home, or the one who experienced love from a friend.
All of these greatly helped me experience what it might have felt to be humiliated, what I've been saved from and it drew me to the cross.
Overall
I think this book gets a rather low rating compared to most others. It wasn't long enough to expound on its truths adequately and the space it did get it squandered with extra designs that served no purpose.
So It's a humble 2 stars for me.
January 30, 2020
Its a great reminder about God's love for us.
November 19, 2022
I thoroughly enjoy his writing for adults; my kids are not so over the top with regard to his children's books. Donate pile.
March 27, 2023
Max Lucado keeps it simple…just what I need! Jesus loves us unconditionally, and this book is a reminder of this truth!
April 10, 2011
Okay, so this is technically a kids book. But I think that's what made it such a great thing to read. It was so clear and simple, breaking down Jesus' death and resurrection- I cried in parts, because I felt like I really understood how much God loved us. This book will change the way you think about the cross. Every part of it has meaning. A kids book, but highly recommended.
March 24, 2016
great book to prepare one's heart for holy Week. or anytime really. Directed at tweens but acceptable for any age, Lucado lays out the meaning of Christ's free gift of salvation. relatable scenarios explain choices we make and their consequences and how God's plan wipes the slate clean for we who are born in sin. a great read.
Read
November 8, 2008Didn't realize when I req. this book from my library it was for tweens!
February 23, 2015
I prefer Max Lucado books to begin with ... I find them easy reads ... Yet information filled ...
April 29, 2016
It's a very good one indeed!
I really have enjoyed it a lot.
It really has touched my heart.
I really have enjoyed it a lot.
It really has touched my heart.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews