When I was little, I remember loving the joke, “you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your relatives.” (Can you guess the part I thought was funny?)
We don’t often think of family as something we choose—at least not the people who raise us. But in fact, God chose us to be in Her family. Paul writes to the Ephesians,
[…] just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world […]. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, […].
(Ephesians 1:3-5)
God adopted us from the very beginning. Before we ever belonged with our human family, we belonged to God. This isn’t the story of seven days and apples and snakes…. Not the story of Adam and Eve…. This is a creation story of adoption, of a pledged inheritance, and the promise that God will once again gather us all up to Himself.
Who is your “chosen family?” The ones who by adoption or friendship hold you in care? How can these relationships teach us about God’s love?
