God's Word For Today

Daily Devotional

Adopted into God’s Family

Read Psalms 112:1 through 115:18; Romans 8:1–17

Anyone who has experienced the adoption process knows that it is not a quick or easy undertaking. Prospective parents must be willing to complete piles of paperwork and submit to a thorough scrutiny of their lives to even begin the process of adopting a child.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

Paul’s Roman audience would have grasped the enormity of this concept. Romans viewed the father of a family as the absolute ruler, and any children “belonged” to him. Anyone wishing to adopt someone else’s child had to follow strict legal and cultural protocol, including a symbolic ceremony of breaking ties with the birth father and establishing new ties with the adoptive father. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, believers are legally and fully adopted into God’s family with all its rights and responsibilities.

Prayer Suggestion: God, help me grasp the far-reaching implications of my adoption into Your family.

Quicklook: Romans 8:12–17