Thoughts on Romans - Day 21

                                      Romans 8:14-25
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

               Interesting qualifier here at the beginning of this passage - "for those who are led by the Spirit". It reminds me of Chapter 4 where the father of faith, Abraham, walked in the footsteps of faith. It is by believing we are saved, by faith alone not works we become children of God. However, true faith and true believers will live a life of being led by God. If we are the ones calling the shots in our lives and doing what we want, even though we many years ago "got saved" we have to question if we really meant it when we said "forgive my sins, I give my life to You".

             What does that have to do with sonship, which my spell check has now underlined for me 3 times, or with being children which is mentioned 5 times? As I think about what it means to be one of my children, a few things from this passage come to mind. One, they are my heirs. Everything I own including my GI Joe collection and Michael Jordan rookie cards belongs to them, someday they get it all. In the same way, whey inherit the riches of the kingdom of God when we go to live with Him which also includes new bodies which don't have the sin nature and don't feel pain anymore.
               Number 2, my kids aren't my slaves although they are not my equals. They are free to do whatever they want to do, go wherever they want to go, be whoever they want to be, etc. but yet they should fear me, respect me, and honor me because of my position of authority in their life so that all their acts of freedom don't shame me but rather honor me. They should still call me "Dad" rather than "Jim" but yet still have that relationship where they can call me "daddy" or come to me at any time of day or night for the smallest of reasons. Even if they mess up royally, they will always be my children - I will never disown them and I will always love them. When we are saved, God is our father not the "big guy upstairs". We seek to honor Him with our life, not because we have to but because we want to. Being His child gives us direct access to Him day and night and He will always hear us when we call out to Him for the biggest of things, smallest of things, to thank Him, praise Him, or confess to Him.
              Lastly, they have been given my name, "koerten". Just like they could bring shame to that name, I could bring shame to them. In contrast, God's actions could never shame us, but us identifying with Him can bring about suffering to us in a world that hates and is opposed to the name of Jesus. It is tempting to change our name to avoid persecution. It is tempting, getting back to the beginning, not to be led by God which brings us in opposition to that name, but rather lead ourselves into the flow and acceptance of the world.

          Could I look at your Facebook page and identify you as a Child of God? Could I look at your checkbook and identify you as a Child of God? Could I hire a private investigator to follow you around and put hidden cameras in your house to build a case against you as being a Child of God? Are you led by the Spirit? Are you one of His?

          Lord, thank You for making me one of Your Children. Thank you for my amazing future coming but also thank you for being my daddy that I can call on day and night. Help me to honor you with the short time I have left on Earth. Help me to follow your lead rather than mine. Amen