In chapter 11 of his letter to the Romans, Paul draws an analogy between an olive tree and the kingdom of God. Addressing Christians who were not Jews – God’s original chosen people – he says: “If some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, were grafted in amongst them, and shared with them nourishment from the root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches… If you were cut out of a wild olive tree, and grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more easily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
There is an interesting relationship between choosing to follow God and being chosen by God. The people of Israel were God’s chosen people, but they could become “unchosen” by choosing not to follow God; nevertheless, they still retained a special status with God in the hope that they would return to him. When someone becomes a Christian, he or she does so through the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming chosen by God.
God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, but not everyone wants to be saved. People who are wild olive branches and people who are natural olive branches often prefer to do their own thing, rather than being a part of the olive tree, preferring to exchange the truth of God for a lie, worshipping and serving created things rather than the creator.