Adopted Sons and Daughters

My two younger sisters used to kid me, all the time when we were growing up, by telling me that I was adopted.  Even though I knew I wasn’t, it still gave me a strange vibe as I imagined how an adopted kid must feel. If I were naughty, my “parents” might send me back,  make me work really hard or  punish me severely until I won back my place in the family.  But, it would always be a tenuous position, one that depended on outward works,  constant fear with a total lack of security. Of course adoption isn’t like that at all.  Today, the people who do adopt, are thrilled beyond measure to be blessed with a baby. To ensure that they are indeed the legal parents, and that the biological mother and father will have no further claims, a lawyer draws up the necessary binding documents that seal the deal.  Once signed, there is no going back, the child is as much a part of the family as any “blood” member would be.  God assures us, that when we are adopted into his family, he becomes our Abba, our Daddy.  Now, I don’t know about all earthly daddies, but mine may have been exasperated with me, from time to time, but never did he threaten me with expulsion.  Why is it, then, that so many Christians feel like God is always waiting for them to mess up, hanging loss of kinship over their heads.  That’s emotional blackmail, and it’s sure not the way God operates.  Still, people grovel before Him like whipped dogs, instead of precious children, trying to appease him with good works and extra trips to church.  Dear Ones, our adoption decrees are irrevocable, and signed, and sealed with the blood of Jesus. We are now, and always will be, children and full heirs of his kingdom.  If you have doubts, pull out those papers and check.  Different from the human act of adoption, we approach God, with a repentant heart, asking him to forgive us, which he will, forever! As a good father, there will be times he will  need to discipline us, but God isn’t going to throw his child out on the street.  “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15.