April 22

He Wanted To

"Long ago, before God made the world, God chose us to be his very own. ...His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to." Ephesians 1:3, 5 TLB

What a precious scripture this is! God planned all along to adopt us as His sons and daughters and set out to do that very thing by sending Jesus Christ to die for us that we might be made holy and He could go forth with His adoption plans. Why did He do all this for us? Because we were great kids? No. Because we are holy on our own? The answer to that is a resounding NO, for without Christ's blood we are nothing! How about because of what we have? No, that couldn't be it because all we have is filthy rags and, after all, God is the ruler of the Universe, He has need of nothing. Let's see, could it be because we have earned the right to be sons/daughters? No, we all know that an adoption is not earned, it is something that is freely given. The parents who do the adopting are the active ones, they do all the work; not the child who needs to be adopted. No, God adopted us because he wanted to. The scripture says we needed Him and he wanted us. The God of this Universe, the Ruler of the heavens, the Creator of all things WANTED us; not because of who we were, or what we could do, or what we had, just because He desired for us to be His children. This was His plan from the beginning of time and He set about to accomplish that plan. How blessed we are to have such a Father

 Precious Father, how in awe we are of you! You, though you have everything, desired us for your children. You left no stone unturned to gain us as your children, and you spared no expense, even though it cost you the life of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. You adopted us because you wanted to, and for no other reason. Thank you, Father, for letting us know that our sonship is not dependent on our performance. It is based solely upon your love for us and your love never fails! Oh, that we might be worthy of such a Father as you! All we can do is to bow in adoration at your feet and say "Thank you." Amen