Spiritual Adoption

          Adoption is something Stephanie and I have talked about since we began to date.  We both feel as though God has placed this desire in our hearts to one day adopt a child.  For Stephanie, I think that desire grows from her overwhelming love of children, all children of every color, shape, and size.  God made her to be a mother and to love kids.  That is completely obvious if you know Stephanie.
          For me, the desire to adopt comes from the fact that I was adopted as a teenage boy.  I wasn't legally adopted.  I didn't change last names.  I didn't move from one place to another, but I was adopted.  Yep, Clinton and Belinda adopted me when I was thirteen.  They already had four kids of their own, one of which they had legally adopted, and they decided to add another one to the mix...that was me.  I am sure of why they adopted me.  It wasn't because I was a perfect kid that would make their Christmas cards perfect for the cover of a magazine.  Trust me, I was in the awkward stage.  I had braces and a gel-locked hairdo that we now look back and call the wave.  It was bad!  They didn't adopt me because they thought it would be easy.  I was an angry kid.  I was confused, and I was difficult.  They didn't adopt me to be able to brag about filling up every seat of a suburban complete with the smell of McDonald's air fresheners (also known as french fries stuck between the seats).  They didn't adopt me to have another kid to look after on family vacations...that's right, they took me on family vacations!
          I am sure of why they adopted me.  It was and is because they take seriously the Gospel.  They take seriously the Word of God.  They take seriously God's commands, and seriously seek to be obedient.  You see, all throughout scriptures, God is commanding his followers and the church to care for the orphans and widows, to give special care and attention to the fatherless.  When my parents divorced, I became an orphan.  My mom became a widow.  I firmly believe the modern day widow and orphan are products of our culture's tendency to divorce.  Now, more than ever, God's challenge for us to care for the fatherless and widow is urgent.  Clinton and Belinda adopted me as a spiritual orphan.  I had no spiritual guidance at home.  My mom was doing her best to keep us going.  I needed guidance...trust me!
          They took me on.  They made themselves responsible for caring for my spiritual wellbeing.  They gave me a spiritual family and a place of safety and security.  Not only did they care for my physical needs, they provided deep spiritual care and healing as well.
          Because of that adoption, I am where I am today.  My testimony is to the power of obedience, not in my own life, but in the lives of Clinton and Belinda.  Their commitment to obeying the Word of God changed my life.  And I can promise if you ask them, being obedient was not always glamorous when it came to their adopted son Ross.  He was difficult, disobedient, and a typical teenage boy!
I'm not quite sure where I might be had I not been adopted.  Perhaps I would have never been introduced to my Father...maybe I wouldn't be apart of this family, the family of God.  Who knows?  I'm glad Clinton and Belinda didn't leave that up to chance.  Nothing is left up to chance when we live out and follow God's Word obediently.
          I suppose legal adoption is an option.  For me, it has become a desire of my heart.  Spiritual adoption on the other hand is not an option.  It is a command given in scripture to be taken seriously by the church.  Look up the words widow, orphan, and fatherless in the index of your Bible.  I think God was trying to make something very clear to us.  Walk into our ENCOUNtER service on a Wednesday night.  There are so many orphans in need of adoption.  Maybe it's one of your teenager's friends in need of adoption.  Whoever, wherever, I pray that you and I will be obedient.  I pray that we will take seriously this call in our lives.  If nothing else, adopt of one of these teenagers by prayer.  Pray each and every day for them.  Transformation doesn't happen apart from obedience.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27