I Am Thine

We all like to belong...to something, someone, some idea.

But if we have trusted in the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we belong to Him.

"I am thine..."  Psalm 119:94

No truer words could be spoken.  Indeed, we were "bought with a price".

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Corinthians 6:20.

Glen and I were discussing this concept yesterday. In fact, he had just given a message about it, and I told him I was going to "steal" his idea. That is because it reminds me of two different instances with our youngest granddaughter, Evelyn.

When Evelyn was in Kindergarten, they were going to celebrate "Grandparent's Day".  We had been to this celebration when her brother was in Kindergarten, and we were looking forward to having a similar experience with Evelyn.

Now, Evelyn had never been effusively affectionate to us, but she is a shy girl. Being a shy girl myself, I knew not to push her. But nothing could have prepared me for the response we received when we walked into her classroom.

When we arrived, and sat by Evelyn at her seat, she never spoke a word to us.  She wouldn't even look at us.  She turned her head away when we tried to engage her.  Our feelings were hurt, and frankly, we were embarrassed.  There were many grandparents there interacting with their grandchildren in happy, loving ways. We were the only ones being shunned by our grandchild.

Almost a year passed, and we were at Evelyn's house. We were going to sit with her and her brother while her parents attended a church event. I was going over Evelyn's schoolwork with her while Glen talked to our son Noah nearby.

Evelyn pulled a paper out of her bookbag and said, "This is about grandparent's day.  But my grandparents can't come because they live too far away."

It was this statement that made me realize that Evelyn knew her maternal grandparents, which she called "Grandpa" and "Grandma" as grandparents.  Glen and I, whom she called "Granddaddy" and "Grannie Frannie" (I didn't pick it out, but I guess it was inevitable I would be called that), she did not think were grandparents because we were called something different.

I asked her, referring to Glen, "Evelyn, did you see that man talking to your father?"  

She nodded her head.

"Well," I said, "that man is your father's father.  And I am your father's mother."

Her eyes opened wide.  Immediately, she made the connection I was hoping for.

"Then you are my grandparents!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, we are!" I laughed.

"Then I want you to come to Grandparent's Day!"

I assured her we would be there.

Evelyn thought because we were not "Grandpa" and "Grandma," that we were just some kind people who were with her family a lot and gave her presents on birthdays and holidays.  Imagine her disappointment on Kindergarten Grandparent's Day when she was expecting her "Grandpa" and "Grandma," and these two interlopers appeared instead!

Grandparent's Day

Evelyn's attitude toward us changed immediately from that evening forward. She is as sweet and loving as a little girl can be, and I enjoy it when she spends time with us. Evelyn's attitude changed because she realized that we belonged to her—we were bonafide grandparents.

When we realize that we belong to the Lord, that we are bonafide sons and daughters, our attitudes should change as well. 

We belong to Him.  

We were bought with the precious blood of His Son and we now are His children as well.

This realization should change us as much, or even more than Evelyn's realization changed her.  We are children of the Living God and loved more than we can ever even begin to imagine.  Let us embrace that truth and live in it as fully as we can in this life.  God loves us and has made us His children.

"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 

To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Ephesians 1: 4-6