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November 3, 2016

Behold What Manner of Love

November 2016

by Pastor Abby Davidson

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  Ephesians 1:3-6

I’ve been thinking a lot about adoption lately. Partly because November is National Adoption Month and partly because two of my close friends have recently adopted children and I’ve had a front seat to all the joy, drama and perseverance that’s involved in the process. The road to adoption is long and winding with bumps along the way, but as my friend put it “It’s well worth the wait”.

This morning I heard the story of country music singer Jimmy Wayne. As a thirteen-year-old his parents abandoned him at the side of the road. After a few years in foster homes and on the street, an elderly couple invited him into their home. They gave him work to do and a place to sleep and showed him love in a way that he had never experienced it before. Their compassion toward him changed his life and introduced him to Christ.

Adoption is a beautiful thing. It so closely mirrors what God has done for us. We who were without a home and without a chance have been brought into the family of God. We are now children of God. We can’t all imagine what it’s like to be without a home or a family but most of us have probably experienced rejection. We know how painful it can be to have someone turn their back or walk away from us. It hurts. It changes you.

God’s fatherly love changes us too. We read in the above verses that God adopts us “according to the good pleasure of his will”. He doesn’t take us in out of obligation or because no one else will. He calls us his own because it brings him pleasure. Through Christ, the Father pours out his grace on us to give us every spiritual blessing. Because of his love, no one need be without a home.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be talking about family in our Sunday service. We’ll look at what it means to be a part of God’s family and how we can welcome others into that family. There’s a joyful reunion awaiting all who have experienced loss and rejection. We’re here to show them that they were well worth the wait.