Bible Reading: Romans 1:6-7
God loves you dearly, and he has called you to be his very own people. Romans 1:7
Even after a tiring trip from the United States to the heart of eastern Europe, the husband and wife were excited to have reached their destination. Now at the Romanian orphanage, they moved carefully between rickety cribs and mattresses set on the floor. The room was dimly lit. The walls, floors, and furniture were less than sparkling clean. The smell of a dozen unchanged diapers clouded the air.
As the couple passed each bed, an infant or toddler eager for love gazed at them. Behind each small face was a sad story of neglect. Tears streamed down the couple’s cheeks. They already had five sons at home in America, one of whom was adopted. They had come to Romania to adopt another child. They wished they could bring them all home, but they could take only one. But which one?
Then they saw her, a girl only a few weeks old. She stood out from all the needy children in the room, as if God was pulling the couple to her. After days of working with government officials, the couple left Romania with their sixth child. Tiny Andrea was totally unaware of the miraculous change that had begun in her life.
Andrea today is eight years old. She lives in a loving Christian family with five older brothers and two younger sisters. (Her parents have adopted two more girls!) The care and affection of her new home have wiped away her tragic start in life. And it’s all because her dad and mom found her and took her home.
We all have something in common with Andrea. Because sin separated us from God, we came into the world alone. It was like being born in an orphanage. We desperately needed care.
Then God came along—not just to visit, not just to drop off gifts and leave—but to take us home to join his family. He loves us so much that he has invited us to be his very own children.
The change that came into our life was even more remarkable than what Andrea experienced. The apostle Peter put it this way: “Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God” (1 Peter 2:10). When we trusted Christ, we went from having no family to being a member of God’s family!
Can you imagine how Andrea will feel someday when she grows to understand what her adoptive parents have done for her? Do you have some of those same feelings when you realize that God has adopted you into his family?
TALK: How might your life be different if God hadn’t adopted you into his family?
PRAY: God, we are grateful you have adopted us as your children. Thank you for giving us a home filled with love.
ACT: Think of someone who feels lonely and cut off from God. Share with him or her the good news that God adopts us as his children!
