Scripture: 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. [Ephesians 1:2-5 NLT] Before we ever had our first child we knew that we wanted the best for them. We planned to provide for their every need. We knew before we ever laid eyes on them we would love them. We had dreams of all the experiences we would share with them. We anticipated the pride we would have in their accomplishments. We even thought about the tears that would be wiped away as they skinned their knee or were hurt by careless words. There is something amazing about being able to love your children before they are even a reality. However, there is something even more amazing about loving them once they arrive. God loved us long before we were ever born. God loved us as God was knitting us together in our mother’s womb. God loved us when we were born into this world. God loves us now through everything. The promise of Scripture is that God will love us through all eternity. How amazing is God’s love for us? In the words of the contemporary worship song by Stuart Townend … How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure that He should give His only son to make a wretch His treasure. God the Father loved you and me even while we were yet sinners, wretches. This proves God’s great love for you and for me. The Apostle Paul writes that God the Father loved us so much that God “had blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ.” God loved us and chose us to be sons and daughters of the most high king. Our adoption into the family of God by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ releases every spiritual blessing. We are heirs with Christ to the kingdom of God. That is how much God loves us. Today spend time meditating on what it means to be known by God and loved by God the Father. You know what you have done in your life, the sin you have committed. Meditate on what it means for God the Father to love you enough to send Jesus Christ the Son to save you. Reflect on the fact that God made you, a wretch, his treasure. Meditate on and give thanks for God releasing every spiritual blessing on you as a daughter or son. Give God all honor, glory, and praise in everything today. Prayer: God of all blessing, thank you for adopting me into your family. Thank you for loving me when I was unlovable and stuck in my sin. Help me to live a life worthy of that gift of love today. Empower me to understand the depths of your love for me that I might share that love with others. Amen.