S208P8 – A new family: a new home

Eph. 2:19‭-‬22

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

She went there to build a community, but she started out alone.  Yes, others had gone to that foreign land with the same intent, and they spent time together learning the culture and language, but that place was strange to her.  Months went by, and she still found herself dreaming of home.  The sights, sounds, and aromas of that new place had been exciting but now seemed uncomfortable.  It was not until she was able to start building close relationships with those native to the culture and language that she felt like she belonged.  Once she was accepted by those who were at home in that place, she began to feel at home as well.

Although I certainly felt welcomed when I first started studying the Bible and going to church, I cannot say that I was at home in that place with those people right away.  The environment was foreign to me, and I was foreign to it.  I had not yet learned the culture.  I had not transformed very much in my behavior or thinking early on.  I could see all the ways in which my life differed from what was expected of a believer.  Yet, as green as I was in the faith, the truth is that I was no longer my old self but had become a new creation.  I was not on the outside looking in but already on the inside, already accepted.  Being part of the household of God, I was home even if it did not feel like it. 

There is one way into the house of God, and that way has only one step.  Once we have accepted the Son, the Father accepts us as sons as well.  This is not a multi-step vetting process.  The Lord knocks, we open the door, and a new creation is born.  We might feel like it takes time to become one of the group, but that simply is not the truth.  Each becomes a member of the family in that moment, and the rest of the household is expected to be welcoming of every new addition.  The new saint is no different than the one who has been a son for decades.  Father, help us to welcome every new child of yours with open arms, treating every saint as our family and your family.