Adoption

"...and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”  (2 Corinthians 6:18 ESV)


I wonder how often we think about the fact that we have been adopted into the family of God?  Had it not been for God's mercy, we would still be outsiders, unable to know the intimacy with our Father and the kinship of fellow believers in the household of God.  


I was blessed to be adopted as an infant and brought into a family that loved me and cared for me.  From my earliest childhood I can remember my parents reading a book to me about what adoption meant - that I was chosen and special. I was wanted.  Hearing that story read, I remember having this image of my parents wandering around a big room full of babies looking for just the right one.  I'm so thankful that they conveyed that message to me - the "specialness" of being adopted; it has made it so much easier, so natural, to understand and appreciate what God has done for us.


As an adopted daughter, the mother and father that raised me were my parents - as real as any parents to any child I knew.  I had all the benefits and experiences of being a "real" member of my family --- it was (and is), indeed MY family.  I wasn't a second-class, settled-for, wish-it-could-have-been-different daughter; I was their child and they were Mama and Daddy.  


That's what God has done for us - he has made us his real sons and daughters and he is our real Father.  We are chosen, wanted, sought after, and cared for.  We bear the family name and the family resemblance.  And a word about that resemblance:  just as in my family, we may not physically resemble each other (although some say we do), we've developed familial similarities in personality and preferences, ways of doing things and interacting with each other that are unique to my family.  As members of God's family, we experience the same thing.  As we live, mature and grow as fellow members of the household of God, lovingly molded and transformed by the Spirit into the image of Christ, we take on family traits otherwise known as fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  We know and have access to our Father at all times, in all circumstances.  We are loved beyond measure, cared for beyond our wildest imaginings, and provided for eternally.  


Take some time to read again the beautiful, beautiful prayer that Jesus prays for his disciples and for us in John 17.  It is an incredible blessing.  To read these words is to know his heart - and the heart of our Father - for us, his children.  It's our heritage - our inheritance.  


"What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are."  1 John 3:1 (The Message)