Today’s Verse
Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. – Galatians 4:6-7, NIV
Luke was ten when his mother remarried a man named Dean. Along with Dean came two stepbrothers around the same ages. Sadly, Luke’s mother died just two weeks after the wedding.
There was no family that could take Luke in, so Dean raised him. Luke smiles when he thinks of his stepfather, “My own father walked out when I was just a baby. But Dean treated me just like his son. He never once made me feel unwanted or unwelcome.”
Like a father would, Dean took time to mentor and pour into Luke. He taught him how to drive, helped him get his first job, and cheered him on when he earned a baseball scholarship to a local college.
When Luke got married, he asked Dean to be his best man. “Dean didn’t just love me. He taught me how to love and that’s something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. No one else wanted me, but Dean took me in.”
Perhaps like Luke you’ve known pain when it comes to an earthly father. Maybe your dad walked out on his family. Maybe he struggled with an addiction that left you feeling fatherless.
But there is a loving Father who wants to take you in. He welcomes you into His home and adopts you the same way Dean did for Luke.
Prayer
God, when I hurt, let me remember that You adopted me. I am Your beautiful child and You are my faithful Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
