Adopted as Children of God

Social Media is an easy way to expose yourself to various topics. Decades ago, a person who wanted to stay current might subscribe to Time, People, or the Wall Street Journal. I myself have had subscriptions to Smithsonian and Natural Geographic, over the years. Now adays, people subscribe to YouTube channels and blogs. With magazine and newspaper subscriptions, your preferences will dictate what you read. Obviously. And the writers and editors of those publications decide what is the most current and newsworthy and offer it to you in glossy pages and eleven-point font. With Social Media you have a better chance of reading something you wouldn't otherwise read; your friends and followers post what attracted their attention, and then you share it, and perhaps even read it, and the cycle continues.

A friend of mine recently posted on her blog that she and her husband will soon be starting the process for adoption. As a single woman, adoption is a vague concept that I have never thought much about. But as I read Steph Whitacre's post, "Opps! We're Adopting," I was touched by the final thoughts: that as difficult and time-consuming as the adoption process may be, it's worth it, to add another member to their family.

The book of Romans tells us that we are adopted as children of God. "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons [and daughters] by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him do that we may also be glorified with Him." Romans 8:15-17

I've heard sermons and read commentaries on this passage that focus on what it means to be adopted. I've thought about the fact that before Christ, I was abandoned and alone, drowning in my own filth. And through the blood of Christ, I was rescued and given a crown so that I am one of God's children, forever brought into His family.

But Steph's post caused me to look at it from a different angle. As we walk through this time of Lent, as we approach the Cross and what it means to Christians, think about what adopting us meant to God. Steph and her husband have stacks of paperwork, mile-long questionaires, medical appointments, and meetings. As the full title of her blog post indicates, adoption is not something that happens by accident, and as her final words attest, there is some level of inconvenience (albeit worth it).

God did not fill out paperwork to adopt me as His child. He did not undergo medical procedures or meet with social workers and agency professionals. He did not prepare His home for spot checks and home visits.

He sent His Son.

To a Cross, the final act in a play that makes the characters of Hamlet look loyal and the most graphic war movie look like Disney. Mocked and ridiculed, scourged and beaten, forced to carry the implement of His own destruction, held up as an example of what a cruel death looks like, and finally, abandoned by the Father, even if only for a time, which must have been more painful than any of us can imagine.

That's what it required to adopt me as His child. Inconvenient? Times a million. Hard? Immeasurably. Worth it?

He thinks so.

I'm not always thankful for Social Media (ironic that I write a blog, I know), but today I am. Steph shared her blog post and I saw it in my newsfeed. It caught my attention and forced me to read and think about something I may not otherwise have thought about. Adoption. I am adopted as a child of God, and that wasn't easy. For Him. But He did it because He thinks adding me to His family is worth any price.