NIV 365-Day Devotional Plan (2017)Sample

CHILDREN OF GOD’S PROMISE

The law was given as a guardian, a steward of the relationship between God and his people until the promise of the coming Messiah was fulfilled. It was established by God to uphold a standard of holiness and make a way for people to temporarily atone for their sins. God determined the time between the giving of the law and the fulfillment of the promise for our benefit. Not a moment of what went on before Jesus came was wasted.

The Israelites of the Old Testament lived with expectation, waiting for God to fulfill his promises. Like underage heirs, they were subject to their guardian, the law — and that arrangement made them no better off than slaves. But Jesus came “to redeem those under the law, that [they] might receive adoption to sonship” (v. 5). He was the fulfilled promise that made adoption into God’s eternal family possible.

Believers are children of God. And they share in the mind-blowingly abundant inheritance of the Lord himself! There is no more uncertainty: God calls believers his beloved and they walk in the close, deeply affectionate, committed love of their heavenly Father.

Jesus, thank you for freeing me from doubt, from slavery and from solitude. Thank you for making my adoption into God’s family possible. Amen.

Taken fromNIV The Jesus Bible