About a year ago, I was sitting in church, when the pastor asked for everyone whose life had been touched by adoption, to stand.
I sat there, and let my eyes look all around the room. I saw young people, old people...and families. I remember thinking, "WOW! This is amazing!"
I have a heart for adoption. I have friends who are adopted, and friends who have grown their family by adoption.
To me, adoption is the perfect picture of what Jesus does for us, when we choose to follow Him. He takes us out of our broken state, and brings us into His family. He takes us from a place of no hope...and He becomes our hope.
As with any adoption, there is sacrifice. There is the death of what was, or of what could've been...and it is replaced by something new: a new life...a new family.
And it is permanent and binding.
Likewise, when we join the family of God, our names are written in His book of life (Rev 3:5), and they can never be removed.
When there is an adoption of a child, the state will issue a new and amended birth certificate, with the adoptive parents' names on it...and they are forevermore that child's parents.
Back to that Sunday in church: after everyone sat down, Jim elbowed me, and whispered, "Uhh...HELLO?" I said, "what?" He mouthed the name of a family member, and I said, "oh yeah...I forgot!"
I mean, it never even crossed my mind.
Which is kind of like it should be, huh?
There's no difference in any of us, in the eyes of Christ.
My life has been touched by adoption, and I'm so very thankful.
"God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure." Ephesians 1:5
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