“For in Christ Jesus you are all children, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3: 26, 28
You are a child of God. Have you stopped to think about that recently? No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are a child of God. You could be 10 years old, a newborn, or approaching 90 years old, but you are a child in God’s eyes. It is an amazingly humble realization to ponder.
Stephen Patterson, a New Testament scholar, speculates that the verse above could be the earliest liturgy used for Chrisian baptisms in the Church. Through his research, he believes that the early church was a place of great diversity, and that diversity was celebrated. All of those boundaries in society were torn down in the Church. Jews and Greeks in the same pew. Can you believe it? One thing tied all people together, they were a child of the living God.
As some of you know, Jessica and I welcomed our son Jamie Lane McDevitt into the world on July 25th. We instantly fell in love and there is no depth or height to that love, it was overflowing at birth. Since those first moments, I know there is not one thing we would not do for him. Have we had frustrating nights? Of course! Does our heartbreak when we struggle to find what is making him upset. Yes! But we will always be there for him.
When describing God’s love for all people, Paul calls them a child of God. Every person we look upon has the same divine gift of breath. As those who seek to live as Christ lived, we are called to extend that same paternal grace to all those we meet. Most importantly, we need to remind ourselves that we too are a precious child of God. For wherever you are on life’s journey you go not alone but with the compassion of God your Mother, God your Father, always and forever. May you feel that love as you live in the life of the Spirit that is binding all things together.
Blessings for the journey,
Pastor Keith