Devotional Thoughts for Today 

“We Belong to God” 

Jeremiah 32:38-40 

They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. 

According to statistics, there are 153 million orphans in the world. It has been recorded that if we were to gather all the orphans and rank the population as a nation, it would be the ninth largest country in the world. This is a heartbreaking statistic. Although this is the number of actual orphans, let us consider the number of persons in the world who live as if they are orphaned. What is meant by this? This means the number of people who believe that no one will care for them, and as a result, they live life as if they must fend for themselves. This is a lonely and stressful way for a person to live. This, however, should not be for us believers.

In Jeremiah 32:38, it says, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way.” When we permitted Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we also consented to being adopted into God’s family, a spiritual family. It came as a package. We recognized God to be our heavenly Father, Jesus as our Lord, and Holy Spirit as our forever spiritual guide. God placed a seal of approval on us, vowing never to leave nor forsake us. This is the fulfillment of the promise that we would be God’s people and He would be our God (v.38). 1 John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

This assurance that we belong to someone and somewhere is invaluable; but the assurance that we belong specifically to God’s family, where He covers us and provides care for us, gives us enormous peace and assurance that all that we need (physical and emotional) are at our disposal. Furthermore, the recognition that we have a spiritual family that we rightfully belong to should motivate us to investing more intentionally in the relationships with the brothers and sisters at church. God is providing us another measure of care through this family, and this belonging is healing to our self-worth and value. It is a crucial part of our identities.

Having these truths in mind, we can take a deep breath of relief. God has not left us to ourselves to figure out life. Rather, He has taken us in as His own, giving us permission to look to Him for everything and to enjoy being part of the amazing family that He has established through the blood of Jesus. Be at peace today because you are well cared for and you certainly belong!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for adopting me as Your very own! How privileged I am to be taken in under Your royal wings and to be given a family to journey life with. As one of Yours, You have entitled me to everything that belongs to You. I can trust You to care for me and not live self-sufficiently as if I were lord over my life. Thank You! In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Bible Reading: Job 6