As the week is drawing to a close, a new month begins. Adopted or birthed. A new start to the month on the theme of how some dads get to have kids and others dads get to choose kids. Ever considered how being a dad can happen in a couple ways? There is what some would call the natural way where you have a child through your wife giving birth. There is another way that doesn’t diminish the need for you to be a dad and it is through adoption.
Choosing to invite a child into your home and your family is a big decision and comes with the same responsibilities. As we embark on this new month and conclude the week, which included an extra day in February, let us turn our gaze to God. He serves as our example on how to be the fathers our wives and children require. Recognizing that He specifically created, purposed, and planned for us to fulfill this role, let’s draw inspiration from His guidance.
This year, I am utilizing the 365 Daily Devotions book I received for Christmas, applying its teachings specifically in the context of fatherhood. It’s called WALKING WITH GOD by DAVID JEREMIAH. It’s exciting to get to learn from a new resource this year as we have tried different options the past two years and will keep working through this one for 2024. For more information about the author and his ministry, visit: DavidJeremiah.org.
Topic: BY ADOPTION
Verse: Romans 8:15 NIV
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.”
Heading into this new day, this new month, let’s be the dads who are choosing to live by faith over fear! Let’s choose to embrace the role of fathers who willingly receive the Spirit of God, acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and become adopted into the sonship of God. Today, when we face challenges or are struggling, let’s stop and turn to God and cry out “Abba, Father” and wait on Him for wisdom, discernment, and help.
Some kids new a new start
Today’s Devotional kicks off with the reality that some kids are in needs of a home and others in need of a forever home. It calls out the reality that “some children have no family or place to belong”. It also points to the heartwarming feeling that comes when we hear about, see, or read news about “couples adopting abandoned baby, family takes in handicapped youth, needy child finds loving home”, and more.
To start, God wants to adopt us into His family
Today’s Devotional points to how in today’s verse has Paul using the “illustration of adoption to explain how we are drawn into the family of God.” We need to turn to God and away from the ways of the world.
In the absence of God in our lives, we wandered aimlessly, lost and searching.
However, upon encountering Jesus, God extends an invitation for us to join His family. We hear it also in Ephesians 1:5 that says:
he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
Benefits of being adopted and a new start
Today’s Devotional speaks to how “in the first century, an adopted son was chosen by his father to carry on the family name and inherit the estate.” Looking into it more, I found a reference to F. F. Bruce’s book The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text1, where he comments on Galatians 4:6-7. He writes: “The Spirit of God’s Son, who enables us to address God as Father, is the same Spirit who enables us to live as God’s sons and daughters. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom. 8:14), and those who are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus are led by the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:18). As sons of God, they might well enjoy the Father’s affection more fully and reproduce the Father’s character more worthily.”
Benefits of being a part of God’s Family
Today’s Devotional speaks to how “our place in God’s family gives us great rights and privileges and also gives us responsibilities.” So let’s be the dads who are a part of God’s family, live up “His calling and asking Him to reproduce His character in our lives.”
“All are equally welcome to Christ, and all have an equal need of Him.”
ADAM CLARKE
