Tuesday, January 6, 2015  

       I was reading in the book of Galatians last night and I came across these very interesting verses: “But when the fullness of the time was come , God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Gal. 4:6-7 KJV) This last phrase reminded me of people I know who have been adopted. Not all of them have had heartwarming experiences or have good memories of it, but one thing is certain: every one of them has a story to tell. In the case of God’s children, however, we all have a great story to share with others. The one aspect that adopted children have that the rest of us do not have is that one or both of their parents chose them. Once again I have to remind you that not all of them were adopted for the right reasons. Not so with God’s children! In our case God chose us because He loved us.

       I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase from the lips of those who have received something great in life: “I felt like I died and went to Heaven.” The ironic thing about this idea is that all of us who have received Christ, will, in fact, go to Heaven when we die, and its all because one great and memorable day we were adopted into God’s family. I suppose that, in this life, not everyone who has been adopted wants others to know. Nevertheless, God’s children should always be ready and eager to tell the whole world that they are God’s adopted children.

       Even those adoptees who have had the good fortune of receiving the best that this world had to offer because they were loved and chosen by the right people and for the right reasons, will never come close to receiving what God’s adopted children will get. They can’t because all the money in the world cannot bring to anybody such things as peace, joy, forgiveness, grace, mercy, salvation, and eternal life, just to name a few. Only God can do that! Regardless of the circumstances, having been adopted is nothing to be ashamed of, and even more so when our new Father is God Himself. Thank God I’m adopted!

Memory verse for the week: (Romans 8:15 NLT) So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family -- calling him “Father, dear Father.”