Children of God
Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ ~ Hosea 1:10b
Those who believed in his name, he authorized to become God’s children... ~ John 1:12 (CEV)
Dearest Father in heaven, it really is an honor to be counted as among your children. And it wasn't anything I did. I just started to believe and you received me into the family. How cool is that! Still, I feel insecure sometimes. I have a hard time really believing that it is true. How could you be interested in including someone like me? I'm not good at much of anything. And I don't see how including me in your family makes the family of God better. It is a mystery that I don't understand. I'm going to stop trying to figure out a father's love and spend more energy enjoying it. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
