We Are His

Ed* was adopted.  Not knowing who his real father and mother are causes him to doubt his self-worth. Rather than see himself as one made by God, he struggles to find value in his identity. Instead of building solid relationships with others and finding meaning in who he is and what he does, he avoids people and floats from one job to another, perpetually dissatisfied with little sense of purpose or calling.

​Meditation
Psalm 100:3--Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His—His people, the sheep of His pasture.
           
Recognition
“Acknowledge that Yahweh is God.” Real life (purpose and meaning) begins when we understand who God is. He is our source of life. He is in charge. He is intent on having a meaningful relationship with us.          In The Servant as His Lord, Oswald Chambers noted, “The one, great, dominant recognition is that my personal self belongs to Jesus Christ.  The counterfeit is giving ourselves as devotees to a cause.  Thousands of people are losing their lives for the sake of a cause; this is perilously wrong because it is so nearly right.”

Design
“He made us.” Those three words are powerful because they convey design. Design infers thoughtful intention for a purpose. God made each person unique and valuable regardless of race, position, physical, emotional, or mental capacity.  We are essential because He planned us.  “God did not design us to live as disembodied avatars in virtual worlds but as bundles of bone and flesh and soul interwoven in place and space.”[1]

Ownership
“We are His.” If we try to find value apart from God, there is none.  To die without a relationship with His Son would be to enter eternity separate from His presence and in a perpetual state of torment as the price of rebellion and sin. If we understand we belong to God, we are armed with value and the security of knowing we are in His caring hands.  Ownership implies responsibility. Belonging suggests value.
When Ed and others who struggle with identity recognize who God is, accept intentional design, and believe that God is our Father, perspective changes.  Suddenly, there is value, hope, and purpose as listening and obedience to the Creator occur. 
 
Inspiration
“The instinct of ownership is a right one, though the disposition expressed through it may be wrong.  In a saint the idea of ownership is that we have the power to glorify God by good works (see Matthew 5:16).  What we own is the honour of Jesus Christ.”—Oswald Chambers in The Moral Foundations of Life

©2024 Daniel York ARR. Reveration is First Cause's weekly devotional ministry. To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)

[1] Etzel, G., Jones, T. P., Jackson, C. & Cartwright, J. (2017). Teaching the World: Foundations for Online Theological Education. B&H Academic, p. 12
*Not his real name.