|
|
"A Father is Born" by Andrew Pauls, a sophomore music major from Kinzers, Pennsylvania
 SCRIPTURE: Galatians 4:4-7 But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. (The Message)
DEVOTIONAL:
Think back to those days when you were young. Those days when your biggest responsibility was choosing what bedtime story Mom should read, and the thing you dreaded most was the steamed broccoli that Dad insisted you eat to “make you big and strong.” Or perhaps you didn’t grow up in such a privileged setting, and the situation I described was something you dreamt of, but never had.
If you did grow up in such a home, imagine you hadn’t. Imagine you had no concept of what it is like to be cared for by anyone or held in the arms of a father or a mother. Imagine not having a home, moving from place to place, and never having anyone show you love. No one to read to you, tell you to eat your broccoli, and no one to hold you when you hurt.
Imagine that someone came along and showed you for the first time what it meant to be loved and comforted. This is what the Galatians passage describes. Instead of being sent from place to place, Christ is our home, and we cry to him “Abba, Father.” Christ is born as both a child and a father, adopting us as his children. He shows us love and teaches us how to love. Christ adopts us into the family of God so we may be, as the hymn states, “no more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home.”
SCRIPTURE: Galatians 4:But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.(New Revised Standard Version]
 
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment