Chosen And Accepted

Romans 8:14-17

I was listening to a conversation between two women the other day (more like eavesdropping, actually) and I heard one say to the other, "By the way, I have great news, we're expecting." Her friend squealed with excitement and congratulatory exclamations and seemed thoroughly confused when her friend further revealed, "No, it's not like that. We're adopting." The conversation went quiet for a brief moment until I heard a sniffle and a soft, calm response, "God bless you, there are so many children out there who need a better life than they're in now."

The truth is there are many children in the world who are living in less than acceptable conditions in orphanages or adoption warehouses (sorry for the strong language, but yeah) just waiting for someone to love them enough to bring them home to a better place. These places don't only exist in what the Western culture would call a third-world country, but these places exist across the Americas and Europe as well. A cursory look at adoption centers in the US alone would boggle your mind as to what these children and youth are living with.

These are the images I envision as I read Paul's words in our short passage this morning. It would seem to me that when Paul exclaims that we're no longer children of the fear of slavery but are instead the newly adopted children of God's love he truly understood what those who live in orphanages during his time went through. If things can be as bad as they are in certain parts of our world today, imagine how they might have been in Rome 2000 years ago.

I know of several children who have been adopted into loving families and I can tell you first hand these children have a deep appreciation and love for their families. Sometimes they have more appreciation for the families they live with than the children who were born into their families. When I talk to them about this most tell me it's because they feel chosen by their families to share in the life and love of those families and the choice to love them never seems to stop.

I think that God is choosing us to be a part of God's family in that same way. I also believe that the unconditional acceptance God has with us continues forever. So, because of this I will do what I can to continue to do what I can to bring others into the family of God in the same way.

Welcome to the family.