Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

ONLY ADOPTED "You're not a real child. You're only adopted." These words sent Marsha into tears. The mocking taunts of her five-year-old playmates sounded in her ears as she ran to her mother and cried, "Mother, am I adopted?" He mother placed loving arms around her and wisely answered, "Honey, Daddy and I wanted a little girl for many years. We looked and looked for a child who would be just right. When we finally found you, we knew you were the one we wanted for our daughter. Other parents have to accept the child born into their family, but we were able to choose our daughter from among many children. We chose you." From that time on, Marsha felt a little bit better than her playmates who had not been "chosen." Jesus came into this world to make us children of God. In the passage today, He is described as the Word Who came offering adoption to any who receive Him. The Gospel records: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13). In this world of sin, we are orphans from God. We desperately need adoption. Every day, we need the wisdom, help, and guidance of a heavenly Father. The good news of the Gospel is that God offers us the opportunity to become His sons and daughters. Let us always remember that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).