All God’s Children
Ephesians 1:5 He destined us for adoption as his children . . . according to the good pleasure of his will.
Our neighbor once told me about a boy her daughter had met while in Jamaica. The boy lived in an orphanage and had a large growth on his jaw. My neighbor wondered what would happen to him once he was too old to stay in the orphanage, thinking that his future would be bleak. However, not long ago she learned that the boy had been adopted by a family in the midwestern United States.
As you can imagine, this changed the boy’s life dramatically. He was given “a future with hope,” in the words of Jeremiah 29:11. For this boy, adoption was a very powerful and life-changing event. In our reading today, we are reminded that God has destined us for adoption as God’s children. As it was for the boy when he was adopted by a loving family, God has welcomed us into God’s family with open arms, eager to bestow on us the fullness of divine love, grace, and forgiveness. For all of God’s children, this is a powerful and life-changing event!
Loving God, through Jesus you claim each of us as your child. Hallelujah! Amen.
By Kari van Wakeren in Christ In Our Home