[When available, audio recordings of these devotions are posted at http://www.redeemerclc.info/audio-devotions]
Saturday, June 25, 2016
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God...
WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD
Having grown in the Word, we are no longer children who run in all directions, out of control. We are children of God.
What does that mean? It means that we follow Him, that we live with an ultimate purpose, namely heaven. Growing up in Christ does not mean losing our childlike faith. Growing up in Christ means having a childlike faith that continues to accept what God says because it is God who says it.
A little child accepts what he is told even though he can't always understand it. A grown up child of God accepts what God tells him in the Word even though he can't always understand it. To all of us, God says, speak the truth in love. Hold onto the truth that is God's Word, rejoicing in the forgiveness of sins, using the Word and the Sacraments, celebrating God's love in Christ, and sharing that love with others by sharing your child-like faith with others. That's what the Spirit is calling us and moving us to do.
By His work through the Means of Grace, we follow our Savior and we will not stop growing in our faith until we are fully grown, when we join our Head, Christ, in eternal life in heaven.
May the dear blood once shed for me My blest atonement prove
That I from first to last may be The purchase of Thy love!
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 336:4)
