child of God

Opening Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came into our world to show us how deeply we are loved.  Help us to recognize that love, to receive it, to believe that it’s true, and to become all that you dreamt us to be.  Amen.

Scripture: John 1:10-13

Journal: How do you try to earn your sonship/daughterhood rather than simply receiving it as a gift from God?  What difference would it make if you lived as though you already were a son or daughter, rather than constantly trying to become a son or daughter?  

Reflection: “He was in the world, and thought the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:10-13)      

The hardest part about becoming a child of God is that it cannot be achieved, it can only be received.  My children did not become my children by trying hard; they became my children simply because they were born out of the love between my wife and I.  And our deepest joy was to invite them into that relationship of love and delight that already existed between us.  All they had to do was say yes.  All they had to do was receive it.  

Of course, first they had to recognize that they were our children, in order to receive the gift and the place that it offered them.  And then they had to actually believe that it was true; the rest would take care of itself.  Their becoming was a byproduct of the recognizing, receiving, and believing.  In other words, they did not have to try to become what they already were.  And neither do we.

We become God’s children because we are born of God, not because of anything we do.  We just need to recognize that truth, receive it, and believe it.  Which is easier said than done.  But when we are finally able to receive his love and believe that we are, indeed, his children, our becoming is merely a result of living our lives in light of that reality.

Prayer

Closing Prayer:  Lord Jesus, thank you that you give us the right to become sons and daughters of God.  Help us to live like it.  Amen.