Knowing who you are

"Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me."- Psalm 27:10

John Hagee worked at an orphanage as he put himself through school. He noticed that on the days that visitors were allowed, a youth invariably would come and stand by the gate. But no one ever came to visit the boy. One day John asked him why he always came when no one ever came to visit him. "I’m waiting for my father," replied the lad.

"Yes, but your dad never comes, so why wait?"

The boy wistfully replied, "I don’t know my father, and until I know my father, I won’t know myself." What sadness! Though you may have never thought of it in this way, one of the reasons that Jesus was secure and confident was that He knew His Father. He knew where He had come from, and subsequently knew who He was. There is an interesting statement in John’s gospel which says of Jesus, "He did not need man’s testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man" (John 2:25).

Do you know who you are? Or, like the boy who always waited at the gate for a dad who did not come, are you confused about your identity? Yes, it is wonderful to know your biological father, yet because of circumstances beyond their control, thousands of men and women never really get to know their fathers.

Talking about the relationship that God’s children have with their heavenly Father, Paul wrote to the Galatian believers and said, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). In this passage, Paul related how when we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are adopted into the family of God. We become His children with an inheritance that can never be taken from us.

People all over the world can testify that the family of God has a closeness that they never knew in their biological family. Blood is thicker than water, goes the old aphorism. This is also true spiritually. The blood that Jesus shed opens the way; there is a fellowship forged by suffering that unites His children and gives them a love for each other that can surpass even the closest of human relationships.

Have you joined the family of God? Begin by trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord. Your participation in the family is then enriched by worshipping with brothers and sisters, by studying the Word to find out who you are in the sight of God, by learning how great is God’s love for you and how He provides strength for weakness, riches for poverty and hope for your despair.

Don’t stand at the gate waiting for a father who doesn’t care. Join God’s family and discover your true identity.- Resource Reading: Psalm 23