Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. — 1 John 3:1
When we adopted our son from China, he was an orphan. Left by his family at 11 months old, the orphanage was only given a letter to describe that the family could not care for him because he was deaf. The letter said they loved him, but they knew the best thing for him was to be at the orphanage.
As the orphanage started to work with him, they had a rough idea of his birthday, thanks to information left in the letter. But the family left no information about who he was. The guide shared with us that the family would have been put in jail for abandoning their child. So, to protect themselves, he was left with no name.
After we adopted him, we quickly changed his name. The name assigned to him in China was insignificant. He was given a generic name after the town he was in. Soon, he took our last name. He was no longer an orphan. He was now a member of our family.
Although he was not born as my biological son, he is still my son. He is entitled to all the benefits of being a member of our family. He enjoys our house and our food. We provide clothes and do our best to meet all the needs he has.
The same could be said for each of us in becoming a child of God. We were undeserving of what we received by accepting Jesus as Savior. We are no longer a stranger; we are one of His children! We are entitled to all the benefits of being His child. He cares for us, provides for us, and has a place for us to spend eternity with Him one day soon.
While there are many examples of love all across this world, there is no greater love that has ever been shown than this. From the foundation of the world, God loved us. A love that was unlike anything else this world has ever seen. A love that made us one of His children! Today, praise Him for His love and all the benefits of being a child of God.
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