I remember going out to visit an elderly woman in our community one wintery day. She had adopted a dog several months prior and was telling me about all of the issues that her new dog put her through. She went on to describe how one day this all changed. All of a sudden, the dog appreciated her company. All of a sudden, the dog liked her home. All of a sudden, the dog was willing to cooperate with her new master. The lady told me that the moment this change happened was when the dog “adopted” her.
This was memorable for me because we were at that same time struggling ourselves with a little one in our home. Our little one was a one-year-old foster girl. She knew us very well, but there were a lot of things that she would not accept from us. When we held her close, she distanced herself. When we tried to comfort her, she would panic all the more. She was in our home, but not willing to accept the love and compassion that we were trying to offer. That is, until one day, shortly after my visit with the elderly woman, when that all changed. All of a sudden, this little girl wanted to be held. All of a sudden, she would calm down when we picked her up and rocked her. All of a sudden, she found comfort being in our family. That was the day that our little girl “adopted” us. She went back to her mom several months later and we don’t see her very often, but when we do, that relationship is still there.
The point of these stories is that adoption is a two-way street. It is not enough for well-meaning authority figures to bring orphans into their home, sign some papers, and promise to take care of them. There is another side to adoption that must happen for a relationship to be complete. The orphan, whether it is a dog or person, must choose to adopt their new family.
In a similar way, God has started the adoption process with us. We have been brought up and abused in this wicked world. We are orphans and slaves to sin, but God promises to take us in and give us a good home. He promises to save us from our abusive and sinful past and give us everlasting life. God offers us all those things that a good adoptive parent provides for their kids and so much more. But in order for our relationship with God to be complete, it is not enough for us to sit back and see what God does. There is something that we must also do. We must adopt God. Have you adopted God?
“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fulness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:3-7