You said, “So you have to make a choice. Then God will then choose you?...”
Yes. And before all of this, God has chosen this as His means of salvation (Peter talks about the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God”). IOW, while there is predestination involved (”For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” - Romans 8), God leaves it up to the sinner to entrust his confidence in The Son (God “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” and “Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”).
A preacher once likened it to a doorway to Heaven emblazoned with the words “Whosoever will” on the outside of the door, and on the inside “The elect of God” on the inside. We choose to follow God, receive His Son as Lord and Savior this side. In eternity, we will see that it was all part of His designed plan.
Just to add clarification in my answer to justice14’s question. The “choice” a person makes that God “chooses” to honor is the appropriation/acceptance by faith of His Son’s finished work on the cross. This is the only “choice” of ours that fits the sinner for being one of those “chosen by God”. And all of this occurs within His full foreknowledge. Nothing takes God by surprise. He knows those who will “choose” the free gift of salvation. The offer is on the table for all. Christ died for the sins of the world. Every sinner (that means every living human being) has the opportunity to be saved. But not every sinner will. And God knows this.
—We choose to follow God, receive His Son as Lord and Savior this side. In eternity, we will see that it was all part of His designed plan.—
Which is what I am saying. God KNOWS, but we CHOOSE. He doesn’t predestine and choose for us, but he KNOWS.