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God is your Father—and you are His beloved child.

When I walked into the orphanage to bring home my daughter, Sadie, she had no idea I was coming. A beautiful baby from Ethiopia, Sadie was vulnerable to the harshness of life. But when I came in and picked her up in my arms, she became mine.

This is what God did for me—what He does for each one of us. I had been struggling through life as a spiritual orphan, and then God stepped into my life, picked me up, and He said, “You are Mine.”

Just days after giving my life to Christ, one intense morning in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, I found myself looking around at the world with brand-new eyes. Like baby Sadie, I lay vulnerable, but only for a moment. Then God picked me up off the veranda floor, held me in His arms, and marveled at me like any father would.

On that day I came face-to-face with a God who was different from anything I had ever dreamt of.

When I first picked Sadie up, I held her close. I touched my cheek to hers. I could smell her newness—that baby smell that everyone loves.

God made me new. I became a child again. He rubbed His cheek on mine. How does it feel to consider that God would rub His cheek upon yours? Can you feel His presence with you now?

What are your parents like?

Whether wonderfully kind or painfully harsh, you’ve probably experienced hurt from them. Your own childhood shapes the way you think about fathers. But God is different. Human fathers aren’t perfect, but God is! He's everything we need.

He’s the Father who sought you out and brought you close to Him.

He knows you completely and He’s able to love you perfectly.

He’s holding you close, and He’ll never let go.

He’ll never abandon you!

Have you ever thought of God as an angry father and yourself as a naughty child, wondering if you'll get caught and punished for being bad?

There’s a Bible story about a son who left his father. He asked for his inheritance early, as though his father were dead, and then wasted it on wild living. When he had ruined his life and was starving to death, he went to beg his father’s forgiveness. He thought, “maybe if I’m lucky my father will let me work as a servant.”

But guess what… his father saw him coming and right away he started getting ready to celebrate! He told all his servants to prepare for a party, and he ran to his son and he embraced him. And with tears streaming down his face, he said, “my son was dead, and now—he’s alive!”

Let’s pray together…

Lord, help us realize we are not slaves or spiritual orphans with no one to care for us. Through Jesus Christ, You adopted us into Your family. You pour out Your affection on us. You are so pleased to call us Your own! We belong to Your family. We have a Heavenly Father who will never fail or abandon us. We are Yours—Your beloved sons and daughters. Amen.