A CHILD OF THE KING
1 John 3:1
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
A while back I was alone at a churches wildgame feed at a church. I was there as the speaker, and I would be sharing hunting and fishing stories and stories of Jesus Christ and how He came to earth to show grace to those that needed it, but didn't deserve it.
Other than the leaders of the event no one was aware of who I was. There were a few hundred people seated in the gymnasium where dinner was being served and there were few seats open. I went from table to table looking for a place to sit, but many said the open seats were being saved for someone else. Eventually I found a place to sit. I'm sure some of those that shunned me instead of making room for a stranger were a little embarrassed when I got up to speak.
I've also noticed that if you're involved in a deer hunting camp and you're the only one that hasn't taken a buck and its time to take a group picture with all the buck. It's a lonely feeling for some... they often mistakenly feel like an outcast.
There is nothing worse than sitting down at a table alone and no one joining you... or walking up to table after table only to be told the open seats are saved. I'm not sure of anyone else, but I begin to question my value in those situations. I'm not one to push my way into someone else's conversation or barge into their group.
After a few minutes of trying to find a place to sit or squeeze into a group photo, in these situations we sometimes just feel like leaving. It's then that satan starts to lie to us, telling us that we have no value to anyone. We question our appearance, maybe we don't fit in at all.... Maybe there's something wrong with us.
From the time that God created man, Satan has been making us question our value and identity. Satan even did this to Christ when He was in the wilderness. Twice Satan started with, "If you are the Son of God" (Luke 4:3, Luke 4:9), which makes it very clear that the attack was aimed at Jesus' identity.
But we can rest assured, when we've given our lives to Jesus, we are now a child of God! We don't have to listen to the lies that tell us that we have no value. God has chosen us as His children... what an amazing thought.
If we allow Satan's lies to permeate our hearts, we lose site of the power that we have in God our Father. When he tempts us to give in to his lies of our value and identity in Christ... respond as Jesus did... with God's word.
Our identity and value are in the fact that God has called us out of this world to be His children. Like the old hymn, "Family of God" says, we're ,"Joint heirs with Jesus". What more do we need to know to find our value?
Paul wrote to the Galatian church in Galatians 4:7 "Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God."
A child of the King!
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