Recently, two close friends of mine were able to adopt a child. There was so much that went into this process but the end result made all of the work worthwhile. What an honor it has been to be an active spectator witnessing the joy, excitement, commitment, and obvious immediate love and genuine acceptance I saw in this family. It was so pure and had a holy element to it. I not only saw the couple, but countless friends, family, extended family and parish community come to celebrate the gift that this child is and would be to their family.
As I reflected on this one day, I was reminded of some scripture that speaks of us being God’s ‘adopted sons and daughters’ and the imagery made more sense to me now. We read in Ephesians Chapter 1 verse 5 that, “In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…Under this belief, we are all equals in the eyes of God and He has called us worthy.” We, too, are adopted people, children of Abba Father. We are the ones who have, through no doing of our own, been accepted into the family of God through our baptism. If we see the human excitement and celebration over this one child being adopted into a family, we cannot even fathom the joy by our Heavenly father when we ourselves were welcomed to His family.
God’s word mentions this many times, but we are reminded in Matthew 18:5 that “Whoever receives one child in my name receives me.” As an ‘adopted child’ myself, I am grateful to be so loved in my family of God.