The Bible says we enter into a covenant with God when we accept His offer of eternal life. A covenant always contains responsibilities to be performed by each of the parties. So we often think of our surrender to God’s will as some sort of deal. God and me—our covenant together. But that’s not at all how the Bible portrays it. God always proclaims it to be “My covenant.” He has put us here for a purpose. God planned this party and we’ve been invited to join in the celebration.
Yet we need to appreciate that those who either respond negatively, or who ignore God’s invitation altogether, are actually making a rational choice. Free will demands that we be given such an option, and people will decide in their own self-interest—even as empty as that self-centeredness always turns out to be. God accepts that. He’s simply separating out His chosen ones.