I am now
grateful to my parents for their extraordinary kindness and unconditional love.
The epitome, if you will, of a prodigal child. As privileged as I was for being
adopted, my rebellious tendency was as I
reckon, more of a reaction to an inability to receive approval my parents
weren’t equipped to offer, at least not in the manner I needed or sought.
If there is
any responsibility of blame it can only be attributed to man’s ultimate enemy
being Satan, or the devil. Anyone willing to offer unconditional love required
for adopting any child will tell you of how much our enemy hates it. Money,
time, frustration and victimization are all aspects of the process. These troubles only arise when Satan seeks to
prevent the willful loving of God by His children through an expression of
unconditional love.
The
spiritual reality written of now was never really present in former years. We did the Christmas/Easter thing as
disenfranchised Catholics. God however wasn’t the central focus of our growing
as a family. Through my years I found a
great hypocrisy by those who claimed to be faithful. I made no secret in letting my feelings be known
to people of the cloth.
Inevitably
my own confidence and self-righteousness matched with stubbornness led to a
very dark place. I made many poor decisions for a person of privilege. I’m not proud of any of these decisions, but
as I come to know my relationship with God through Jesus I can begin to see how
the poor decisions brought me to a place which is perfectly suitable for where
God wants me now.
When I
realized the reality of the darkness resulting from poor decisions, my options
only existed with depending on others rather than my foolish self. My disbelief of man’s possession of truth was
validated on convenience, materialism and wealth accumulation. I continued to
reject God until I heard preaching that made sense. I began study of God’s word
with a great curiosity and urgency.
In reflection
the rebuke of Jesus to Satan mentioning that man shall not live on bread alone,
but by every word of God really was the transformation that worked within
me. The more I read the more all social
problems made sense. I began to see the
light and I wanted more voltage to be a brighter light.
In Scripture
Paul speaks of adoption.
Romans 8:15,
23 Romans 9:4, Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5
For ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.
And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Who are Israelites; to whom
pertaineth the adoption, and the glory of the covenants, and the giving of the
law, and the service of God, and the promises,
To redeem them that were under the
law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will,
I am not
sure when these scriptures came alive for me, but I am glad they did.
I guess the
world teaches us to compare ourselves with others always seeking to be the
best.
Because I
was a stubborn individual, the things that interested me became my focus. Any of these focuses allowed me to excel in
comparison to others. My confidence in
my own abilities was my stumbling block because the world presumed the same
confidence to be arrogance. What amazed
me was the very thing the world sought, they’d reject even though I delivered
that which they sought. My lack of humility made the very ground I stood on a
trap for envy. The fact that I cared
little for feelings of others or materialistic sensibilities others cherished
made life a difficult journey to worldly success.
Life wears
on us all. Our age diminishes our
vitality, injuries of the past become prohibitions of the present. Guilt of failings, regret of lost
opportunities all work together to make desperation an unwelcome friend.
The purpose
I thought to be my own no longer made any sense. Faced with the fact that my
life was finite I wondered why I was given a chance at life others had not
received. Abortions had been an acceptable form of birth control in my
lifetime. My life as lived didn’t amount to any type of redeeming contribution to
humanity.
The adoption
into God’s family for others than those of Israel came through Jesus Christ’s
passion and sacrifice for all men. Israel hadn’t become what God intended.
Abram later known as Abraham received God’s first promise to be the father of
multitudes. God also promised to bless those who blessed Abraham and his
offspring, and curse them that cursed Abraham and his offspring. Many other
promises from God to men were made in later generations of Abraham’s line. All have been kept.
As a servant
of Jesus we are adopted into God’s family. God loves all his children, but
blesses those that know Him and His law. This is how unconditional love
transforms those that accept Christ because they understand that the love of
Jesus is redeeming to God and his eternal nature.
Once anyone
becomes a child of God the things and concerns of this world’s importance don’t
remain important. They become secondary
to God’s desire.
While the
world seeks immediate gratification to the nature of self-importance an
unexpected pregnancy becomes problematic. Procedures such as abortion become
justified in seeking self-important living because of the liability and burden
children are deemed to be in our culture.
This world’s
notion of love is about the utopia of foolishness people desire. This world’s love isn’t based on sacrifice of
service, but rather getting along for the sake of convenient and expedient living
of the self-righteous and self-determined people. The moral relativism people
hold onto can’t compare with God’s with the integrity and moral character God
demands.
God wishes
that none of His children would perish and offers an adoption to a fallen
world. In order to receive this adoption
we must desire to know God through His son Jesus and in becoming part of His
family we are inheritors of all his promises. By rejecting this adoption we
become the thrown away barred from His kingdom yet to come. Much like aborted
children of the self-determined and self-righteous people don’t become because
of the choice not to abide God’s commandments.
I am
thankful for my earthly adoptive parents, but I am forever grateful for my
adoptive Father in Heaven.
All sins
save rejecting the Holy Spirit of God are forgivable and forgiven through
confession and repentance. That is the
promise of unconditional Love only God can give. Those in His family share such
grace by His mercy because they understand justice is God’s to determine.
By the way, those that adopt unwanted children are covered in doing unto the least of these and thereby making their own salvation a certainty in God’s kingdom to come.
Amen
Peace and Blessings
