There were children and then there were strangers. The children almost always have part in the
inheritance, but not the strangers, except for a very few. The children have the privilege of being part
of a family where they are nurtured and loved. The strangers, aside from a few
moments of generosity and compassion, were not part of the grace reserved for
the children. One would not keep his or
her children out in the cold of the night and let some strangers in to his or
her home. That’s not the way of the
world.
But there were strangers, unrelated by blood, who were taken
in as one’s own. They are the adopted
sons and daughters, worthy to be called heirs and part of the family. They were given the rights to call their “parents”,
father and mother. If this can happen here on earth, believe that
it is possible, too, in the heavenly realms.
“But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)”
†Father, we thank you for the gift of life. We thank you Father for Your grace that You
made us worthy to become Your children through Jesus Christ Your Son, our Lord
and Savior.
Father, touch our hearts today, so that as we read and
meditate on Your words, we may fully understand Your message. Lead us, Father, in a life that will make us
worthy to be called Your sons and daughters, children of the Most High. All
this we pray, Father, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
From our last article, we talked about how Jesus, being the
Light of the world was not received in the world. He created it, yet He was not accepted by
it. Such were the people living in the
dark. And many of us today are not
different from the people of Jesus’ time on earth.
We love darkness because in the dark, we can be bold and
daring and careless. Compare the crime
rate during the day and during the night.
Most crimes were committed at night.
Why? Because people, like us, who
do bad things believe that we are isolated from the light during the
night. We can do whatever we want
because no one can see us. So we gain
false courage and dare to be bold. But
you know that is not true, because God, who is ever present and ever powerful,
can see us even during the darkest hour of the night or even if we hide in the
deepest abyss of the earth. That’s why
many would deny Jesus – and deny God. We
hate the light the would expose our wrong doings.
No one would want to wave their dirty hands in broad
daylight. Not even me. So we move away from the light, making us strangers
to God.
But there is hope. And that hope is in Jesus.
Many people, in order to achieve the grace of being called
child of God have done so many things.
But if we will look at the verse above, we need to do only two things: BELIEVE
and ACCEPT.
BELIEVE
We know that there are many who do not believe in Jesus – as to who or what He is. So let’s not talk about them. Let us talk about the many who “believe” in
Him. Believing something is associating it as real or true. If we believe in Jesus, then we believe that
He lived on earth and that He existed.
But this “belief” requires more than just acknowledging the fact that
Jesus lives and that He is the Son of God.
If we are to believe in Him, then we must believe His works
and His words. You cannot say, “I
believe in what you said, but I don’t believe it’s the truth.” What is the point in believing a lie. Believing in a person but not in his words is
very contradicting in its own. Such is
something we cannot do when it comes to our belief in Christ. We cannot simply believe that Jesus is the
Son of God and our Savior, and yet do not believe the words He said. We cannot also say that we believe Him to be
the Christ, but not believe that He died for our sins.
Many people who are suffering and struggling in life profess
their beliefs in Jesus but they live their lives as if He can do nothing about
their problems. Many people believe in
Him and His remission of sins, but continue to live their lives as if they can
never be forgiven. They believe in Him,
but not His words, not His works. If we
truly believe in Jesus, we will believe what He said and will DO as He
commanded.
ACCEPT
Accepting Jesus means letting Him in into our lives. You cannot accept and not receive. “I accept this gift, but take it with you
when you leave.” “I accept you in our
house, but you have to stay outside.”
That’s not acceptance. And I don’t know what it is. We cannot say, “Jesus, I accept you in my
life as my Lord and Savior, but don’t meddle in my affairs. I can do this on my own.” Accepting Jesus means surrendering everything
to Him. When you ride a taxi, you don’t
instruct the driver when to turn left or right, when to step on the brakes and
when to change gears. You just tell him
the direction or location you want to go and let him do his job.
So, when we accept Jesus, we just have to let Him do His job
of changing us, from the inside out. We
cannot accept Jesus and then continue on our own “journey” of
self-enlightenment, self-discovery, self-fulfillment or whatever you want to
call it. All our efforts, though some
may succeed in some areas and for some times, will all end empty and will fall
short. Because only by accepting Jesus we
can have the fullness of life. With
Jesus in our lives, we shall lack nothing for He is the Good Shepherd with unfailing
love that will pursue us all the days of our lives (cf. Ps. 23).
BECOME
This not something you can do – this is the outcome of your
belief and acceptance of Jesus Christ.
This is the grace of God that is offered to all of us through Christ. This is made free for you and me because Jesus
already paid the ultimate price – His death on the cross. With His death and resurrection, we can
become heirs and be called children of God.
All we must do is Believe and Accept.
Then, what shall we do as we become children of God? Live like one.
“This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. (Colossians 1: 21-23)”
†We thank you, Father, for the love and mercy you have given
us. We thank you for the gift to be
rightfully called your children through Jesus Christ. Without you, we are nothing. And as a child of the Almighty, we pray that
you meet our every needs like a babe helpless and in need of your love and
care, every waking moment of our lives.
And when our time on earth comes to an end, welcome us in the gate of
heaven, to a place You have reserved for us since You laid down the foundation
of the universe. All this we pray, in
Jesus’ mighty name, together with the Holy Spirit, who lives and reigns with
You, now and forever. Amen.†
