Chosen

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1: 4-5

A couple of days ago Dylan had a particularly bad day behaviorally-wise (unwise-rather). So I took him for a late afternoon walk. After being walking for about 40 minutes or so, he asked me, “Mama, do you wish you’d had me?” I pondered the question for an instant, and asked him to please repeat it. “Do you wish you’d had me?” he repeated. Do you mean if I’m glad I have you? I rephrased it to see if I could understand his real point. “Yes,” he answered with bright eyes, indicating that he was happy I had “got” what he had meant.

Dylan often seeks reaffirmation that he is loved and that he is wanted. As he is becoming more aware of his reality as an adopted child, he wants to make sure that such reality doesn’t mean he is a lesser type of son. I understood this to be one of those instances so I replied: “Of course I am happy you are mine!” “I picked you, you know?” “Out of many kids we could have adopted, we picked you because we loved you the first time we saw your picture and heard about you.” His face lit up since I believe this was the first time he had heard the fact that he had been chosen.

“Just like God does...” I continued, “He adopts us to be His children.” “Like Jesus, right?” Dylan commented. “Yes, you are right, Jesus was adopted by Joseph when he was here on earth, but God also adopts each of us whom He picks to be His children.” “Wow, God has a very big family!” Dylan replied. “Yes, He does! And we are all going to be together in Heaven one day, enjoying all our brothers and sisters,” I added. “And we’ll get to see God every time we want,” Dylan pointed out as he was already starting to walk away, distracted by some rocks alongside the path.

I looked at my little boy and I praised God for this chance to have him with me. The privilege of experiencing the miracle of adoption in a most personal level has allowed me the opportunity to see first-hand the truth of the unconditional love God lavishes on us. It has nothing to do with us or with what we do or how we behave…it has to do with Him and His sovereign will. It is a gift that we get to be part of His family and bask in His love. And the best thing is, nothing can separate us from this Divine kind of love…

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39

Linking with Judith Whole Hearted Home, Simply Helping Him