(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 21, 2013 by guest blogger, Barry Adams)

 

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. (John 8:35)

 

A friend of mine from India once told me the story of a young orphan boy who was adopted into a loving family. One day while he was drying the dishes in the kitchen, he dropped a plate and it shattered on the floor. Immediately he ran out of the room in a panic.

 

His adopted parents went looking for the boy but could not find him for some time. Eventually they found him hiding under his bed, shivering in fear. Once they coaxed him to come out from under the bed, they asked him why he ran away and hid. His answer, though heartbreaking, echoes the same fear that many believers struggle with in their own lives: “I thought you would return me back to the orphanage because I broke a plate”.

 

When people hear this story, usually their immediate response is one of being shocked that this little boy would carry such a deep insecurity in his heart. After all, his new parents took the time and expense to go through the adoption process to bring him into their family. How crazy would it be if they decided to return him to the orphanage simply because he made a mistake?

 

In the natural, it is plain for us to see how tragic it would be for someone who has been adopted into a loving family to live a life with this kind of insecurity. Something inside all of us would want to hug this little guy and comfort him and tell him that he is completely safe and secure in his new family.

 

Yet, in our spiritual lives do we feel that our position in our heavenly Father’s house is completely safe and secure? Or do we feel like our standing in our Father’s heart is conditional on us following all of the rules of the house?

 

There can be an underlying theology in some circles that would cause us to feel that our heavenly Father’s love is indeed conditional. If we ‘break a plate’, our standing in His house might be in jeopardy. If we don’t follow all of the guidelines that the church requires, perhaps we will find ourselves on the outside looking in rather than being on the inside looking out.

 

I truly believe that our heavenly Father wants us to know that our position in His heart has been settled once and for all by the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. I believe that our God and Father wants us to know that nothing in all creation can separate us from His love (Romans 8:37-39). I believe that He wants us to stop living in fear of being rejected and start living in the security and safety of being completely and perfectly loved by the One who is love itself!

 

In John 8:35, Jesus tells us that a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs forever! The moment that we truly received Jesus into our hearts, we became sons and daughters of the living God. God gave us His own Spirit as a seal to guarantee our inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:22) in Christ. Our place in His house is secure because a son belongs to the family forever!

 

Our place in our Father’s heart is not based on what we do, but is based on what Christ already did. Our elder brother Jesus paid the price that we could not pay to secure our salvation and our standing as His brothers and sisters. If we are not convinced that the finished work of Christ is enough, then we will live a life where we believe that God’s love is conditional based on our performance.

 

Though we may break many plates in our life’s journey, God’s heart for us will never change, for love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). The more we realize that we are covered by the love of God, the more we will stop creating fig leaves of self-righteous works and rest in His covering over all of the broken areas of our life.

 

My prayer today is that each and every one of us would know that the love God has for us is ours for eternity. May the revelation of His unconditional love and acceptance bring a safety and security to our lives that would cause us not to run away from Him when we fall. May we know that our identity in Christ is secure and everlasting for it is by grace that we are saved and not of our own efforts! (Ephesians 2:4-10)

 

(Barry Adams is the humble vessel chosen by God to bless the world with the revelation known as the Father’s Love Letter. Along with his wife Annelise, Barry ministers the Father’s Love all over the world. Today’s DWOD is from a post he wrote for A Son’s Life Blog)