The Children of the Lord

            “Ye are the children of the Lord… Ye shall not cut yourselves” (Deut 14:1).

            What a blessed relationship – “ye are the children of the Lord!” We are the children of God by Divine choice:  “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people …but because the Lord loved you” (7:7, 8).  In love God has chosen us to be His own.  This covenant has been sealed by atoning blood.

            We are not sons and daughters because of something we did, but because of what He did.  The one condition on our part is faith-faith expressed in willingness to receive and willingness to obey.

            Because we are sons and daughters we are not to pattern after those who are not children of God.  “For thou art a holy people unto the Lord they God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself” (14:2).  The Christian’s one “peculiarity’ is to be like His Lord.  And if the Christian rejoice of God, this conformity to God will be a pleasure and not a cross.

Tell me not of heavy crosses

Nor of burdens hard to bear,

For I’ve found this great salvation

Makes each burden light appear.

And I love to follow Jesus,

Gladly counting all but loss;

Worldly honors all forsaking

For the glory of the cross.

            Fellow Christians, let us not be reluctant to reject the sinful patterns or our age – social patterns, fashion patterns, business patterns, recreation patterns – whenever these conflict with a likeness to our Lord.  Let us rejoice that we may like Him, disdaining every compromising suggestion of conformity to a passing and sinful age.

            Did it seem “peculiar” for the ancient Jew to refuse to eat “unclean meats”?  Well, he chose to eat “clean meats” to please his God.  And if one’s heart is only set on pleasing the Lord, the Christian will gladly count all things but loss that he may win Christ.

--George E. Failing, 1959