Family, A Precious Gift

By Roland Ledoux

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children ofGod! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God . . . – 1 John 3:1-2.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then Heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . . – Romans 8:16-17.

It doesn’t matter where a person is in the world, or even what their station in life is, for the most part family will always be uppermost in their thoughts. Whether it is sons and daughters to parents or husbands and wives to each other and their children, most people look upon family as a very special and precious thing.

However, if you are a Christian, someone who has surrendered their lives and their will to the will of Christ Jesus as one led by His Holy Spirit, have you considered just how immeasurably precious you are to our Heavenly Father?

The Apostle John in his first Epistle or letter, uses the phrases and titles of family members throughout his letter, but I love the beginning of what has been designated as chapter 3. In the New King James Version it speaks of the love the Father has bestowed upon us, but in the New International Version it uses the word “lavished”; Now think of this for a moment, as it's easy to just skim by it.

The Father’s love is not just a haphazard casual type of love, it is something that He has purposefully granted, bestowed and lavished upon us! He considers us, based on His love for us, something most wonderfully precious. When John writes, if you consider how he is writing, he almost writes as if he is utterly amazed at the prospect of God’s love.

Yet, here is the miracle, the most amazing thing about it; because of that love that God lavishes,

graciously, generously and abundantly on us, we are recognized by Him, the Creator of all that

ever was, all that is and all that ever will be, AND called His children! Let that sink into your

thoughts for a moment. Consider it and all it means! He created the Universe, its expanse and all that is in it and compared to that we aren’t even specks, yet, in His heart and in His eyes, we are His children! I’m probably pretty close to the age the Apostle John was when he was exiled and I still find that beyond comprehension!

We are sons and daughters of the Almighty God! We are His heirs, because of His great love in

sending Jesus Christ to draw us and show us that He desires to be our Father. There is no

relationship in the natural that can even come close to that truth. We can love our natural families so very deeply and if we truly do, it is only because the Holy Spirit gives us the power and anointing to be able to do that, for we all, in the natural, have flaws and weaknesses. Yet even that love is flawed at times. However, in our relationship with our Heavenly Father there are no weaknesses or flaws in His love for us. Because Jesus Christ has saved us for redemption, which will come finally in the future, we will be able to be with our Creator, with the One that created us out of a love that is unfailing and incomprehensible to our natural minds and we will be able to love Him back without flaws or weaknesses because one of the great promises of being a child of His is that we shall be like Jesus. We will be co-heirs with Christ, but we shall be like Him, in character and nature, able to fully give glory and honor to our Heavenly Father for eternity.

When we move out from our families, away from our parents and such, we do not forget them by any means, but our communion with them is not the same as it was and in truth will never be the same because we embark on a lifelong journey of our own discovery. However, with our

Heavenly Father, because He is Spirit and has imparted His Spirit to abide within us, His

promise to never leave us nor forsake can never be broken. He remains with us no matter where life, or the leading of His Spirit takes us.

The other amazing aspect of that is the fact that, in the natural we may have a limited number of

family and relatives, but in the spiritual, with God as our Heavenly Father, we truly DO have

brothers and sisters all over the world. It’s true that we may not know them intimately yet, but one day there is going to be an awesome reunion. For me, it causes me to truly respect and honor that term “brothers and sisters” because there is a depth there that can never be matched in the natural. Because of the spiritual depth of that fact, no matter where I go in the world, there will always be someone there who will be able to love me as truly one of the family!

My encouragement to all today, and especially in the light of all that is going on around us in the

world, do not take for granted the most precious gift that the Lord has bestowed and lavished

upon us through His love in regards to our eternal family. When you consider just how great that

love for us is and that we are partakers of that same love and thus that same power and anointing with others all over the world, it should brighten anyone’s day.

A final thought; we may be pilgrims in this world once we have accepted Jesus as Lord and

Savior, but because of Him and because of the love of the Father, no matter where we go,

especially as pilgrims, we will always have family members that are on the same journey and the same pathway to eternity as we are on. What a legacy to pass on to other family members, your children and grandchildren! With this knowledge, they will NEVER be alone!

Be encouraged, stay strong, continue to please our Father by walking in faith. We may not see

what tomorrow holds for us, but faith tells us that our Father does know and He has already

prepared the path for each of us! God Bless!

(Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

Roland Ledoux is Pastor of the outreach Ministry, Oasis Bible Ministry, specializing in Teaching, Encouragement and Intercession (both prayer and needs) since the early 1990s. Married for 50+ years with two adult sons, a grandson and a great grandson. Living in Delta, Colorado. Been ordained since 1986. Fundamental Full-Gospel, Non-denominational. To learn more about Roland visit his website.

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