Closer and Closer!

I found this on another blog and I loved what the author shared. I would like to share it here ;)

19 Days � Adoption

(This is actually a re-post from a former blog of mine. I wrote it about a year ago as Jim was preparing to help a family with an adoption here in Ukraine. He and Jeanne both are leaving tomorrow at 3:45 a.m. to assist in another adoption � Jim as a pediatrician offering his medical expertise and Jeanne as a nanny taking care of the couple�s two children that have accompanied them.)

Adoption

Jim has just received several emails from families who are coming to Kyiv this month to FINALLY complete their legal adoption process. Most of these couples have been waiting for what seems like an eternity to receive an appointment at the national adoption agency � the whole process has been shut down for months as the system was being revamped. We pray for each of these families�that the desires of their hearts might be given to them�

This morning as we read our devotional together we were reminded about our OWN adoption into God�s family. �God sent forth his Son�to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.� Gal 4:4-5

J. I. Packer wrote in this devotional:

�Adoption, by its very nature, is an act of free kindness to the persons adopted". If you become a father by adopting a child, you do so because you choose to, not because you are bound to. Similarly, God adopts because he chooses to. He has no duty to do so. He need not have done anything about our sins save punish us as we deserved. But he loved us; he redeemed us, forgave us, took us as his sons, and gave himself to us as our Father.

�Nor does his grace stop short with that initial act, any more than the love of human parents who adopt stops short with the completing of the legal process that makes the child theirs. The establishing of the child�s status as a member of the family is only a beginning. The real task remains: to establish a filial relationship between your adopted child and yourself. It is this, above all, that you want to see. Accordingly you set yourself to win the child�s love by loving it. You seek to excite affection by showing affection. And so it is with God. Throughout our life in this world, and to all eternity beyond, he will constantly be showing us in one way or another more and more of his love, and thereby increasing our love to him continually. The prospect before the adopted sons of God is an eternity of love.�

Packer then asks us to consider: �Adoption into God�s family is the highest privilege that the gospel offers. Do you agree? Think about the blessings available for all God�s adopted children. Praise God for each of these and go into the day bearing in mind who you are in God�s eyes. For most us this will mean living with greatly increased confidence!�

As we begin to prepare our homes AND our hearts for this precious Christmas season, let us not forget WHY Jesus came to this earth. Not just to be an example, though He was. But to redeem us. To pay the price that we could never pay. So that we can live eternally with our Father� as His adopted children.

What a blessing.

Posted by ukrainiac on December 6, 2007 at 11:14 pm

~ I (Jenn) am so thankful for our adoption into the family of God. For my Brothers and Sisters in Christ who will be such amazing Aunts and Uncles to our kids... for His love to us to draw us in by His grace and give us a place in the body of Christ. We are blessed! We can't wait to share our lives with the children and the children with you!

Love

The Smiths ~ Here and There ;)