Father

As I write this a sweet couple in our church is in China  for just one reason....to adopt a little boy.

Following their odyssey has me thinking about what they are doing...it has struck me that to adopt this little boy my friends have had to spend countless hours filling out paperwork.  They have paid thousands of dollars and taken the time to travel to China to get their new baby boy.  It has had to be a love beyond blood for them, a love for someone they have yet to meet.  It has cost them in every way I can imagine....money, time, love, and so much more for a little boy who has no idea what is about to happen to him.

Right now, today, this little boy is an orphan in a state facility. Soon, in a matter of days, he will have a father.  He will have a father who intentionally sought him out, paid a price and has gone to amazing lengths to make him part of their family.

Adoption is so common that we don't realize the implications...how wonderful it is, but it's a decision driven by love for a child unable to be worthy of the gift.

One of the awe inspiring truths of scripture is that the God who made us has also adopted us and made us his sons and daughters. He has adopted us, just as my friends are adopting this little baby. God paid a price, sought us out, loved us even when we didn't know him and made us his children. 

Here is how Paul describes it,

Galatians 4:1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Did you see these words, "Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child."  Now, if you have trusted Christ, you have a Father.  You were an orphan, without a home, without a hope, but God sought you out, paid a price....made you his son, his daughter.  Now you have a Father...and he's your creator.

Adoption is wonderful.  Now, when I pray, I begin with this word, "Father..."  and approach the creator God, the one who made me, as my dad, my Abba. 

I'm adopted. I'm loved. I have a Father.  The price has been paid for me. Father has sought me out.  I'm no longer an orphan.