Acceptance

All of us want to be accepted by others. To be wanted, desired, and let in to the group is so important to all of us. Who hasn’t experienced or at least feared the experience of being the last kid picked for the playground kickball game when teams are chosen? We want to be accepted!

But, with all of our “stuff” and “junk,” how could we hope to be accepted by a Holy and perfect God? Doesn’t seem possible does it? Yet Paul said to the church at Ephesus that we have been accepted, but that acceptance comes as a result of our relationship with Christ. We are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). We are not left to wonder what that means. Jesus, when emerging from the baptismal waters of the Jordan, heard the Father’s affirming voice: “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

As we place our trust in Christ as Savior, Sacrifice, and Lord, His status before the Father becomes ours and we become the accepted, the heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, and the recipients of God’s lavish love that grants us the privilege of being called His children.