It was the middle of the night, and I tried not to cry. I also tried not to shout.
That might sound confusing, so let me explain. I was up with my nine-day-old son, who was resting on my chest as I sat on our sofa. It was the first one-on-one time we had together, because we had only welcomed him into our family twelve hours earlier. The Lord had brought him to our family through the amazing process of adoption.
Years of praying and preparing had led to this moment, and emotion overcame me. But I was also overcome with the reality of the gospel. I grew up in church and sang the song “Family of God” countless times. As a believer, I understood that I was a part of God’s family, but that truth took on a deeper meaning as I sat on that sofa with my son.
I recalled the passage in Galatians 4 that explains how God has adopted us into His family (Galatians 4:6). I am His son. As I sat there with my son, I realized that I did not consider him my adopted son; he was just my son. If I, an imperfect father, felt this way, how much more would a perfect heavenly Father? To know that God has welcomed me into His family and loves me so deeply is a source of great comfort and joy.
But I am not the only one who experiences this. The Lord welcomes every believer into His family. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit bears witness within us that God is our Father. He loves His children perfectly, and nothing can change that. This is a truth we need to rest in because we hear so many voices telling us many different things about who we are, what we’ve done, and what we will become.
God adopts you into His family, where you are loved, not because of what you have done, but just because He loves you. And nothing can change that. Welcome to the family.
James Neal is a Discipleship Pastor at Central Baptist Church in Dunn, NC. He is tremendously blessed to call Jenni his wife and highly favored and to call Logan, Megan, and Gavin his children. James loves to write Sunday school lessons, devotionals, and scripts (including Thanksgiving musicals because, believe it or not, that is a thing). He enjoys studying and consuming stories from all sorts of media styles and enjoys many fandoms in his spare time. Most importantly, he desires to glorify God with his pen and life.