Hey, listeners! Welcome back to the Men of Valor Podcast. The reading today is from the book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 4: “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ...”

"If the Lord in His great mercy and grace had not chosen us, we would be dead in our sin..."

Often, as I'm walking and I encounter someone taking their dog for a walk, I'll ask, “Hey, what kind of dog is that?” and I often hear, “Oh, she's a Collie! Labrador Retriever! Poodle!” all different kinds of breeds. But, the answer I'm hearing more and more is, “It's a rescue dog.” Obviously, what that person is saying is, “The breed of dog isn't that important. It’s not important what kind of family it came from, what's important is if I hadn't rescued and adopted this dog, he would be dead.” Whenever they say that, I immediately can identify with what they're saying. However, it's not the person I identify with; it's the dog! If the Lord in His great mercy and grace had not chosen us, we would be dead in our sin, and dead for eternity.

"We actually became adopted to someone who loves us and that we can love him back."

Just as the rescue dog did nothing to be chosen, we did absolutely nothing that influenced the Lord to choose us. Most of us were acting just like all the other dogs in the worldly kennel. We didn't even know there was a completely different world available to us until we started to walk with our master, our heavenly Father. Hallelujah! We suddenly were freed from a cage, and we actually saw the light! We actually breathed fresh air, and we actually became adopted to someone who loves us and that we can love him back.

Without me even asking, often the owner of the rescue dog says, “He's a good dog! He obeys well. His love touches me so much, the way he gets excited when he sees me every time we get back together, even if we've only been separated for a short time. He gets excited every morning after a good night's sleep because he's anxious to spend the first couple hours of the day with me.” When they say that I think, “Well, of course he does! You provide for him, you love him, and you even gave him life by choosing him from all the other dogs in the kennel.”

"...His Son paid the bill with His own blood to rescue us."

And then, I wonder if our heavenly Father would describe us that way, since He did the exact same thing for us. Would “love” and “obedience” be the two words He would use to describe us? In order to rescue the dog, the owner paid the kennel to acquire the dog. The most shocking thing about our heavenly Father is He paid an unbelievable price to rescue us! He actually gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, for us, and then His Son paid the bill with His own blood to rescue us. Jesus Christ paid the total price, freed us from the cages of sin, and adopted us into His heavenly Father's family; and we did absolutely nothing to deserve it. Oh, the great love of our Father!

"Thank you, Father, for adopting us into your family..."

Thank you, thank you, and thank you, heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for rescuing us from the kennel of sin! Thank you, Father, for adopting us into your family and giving sonship through Jesus Christ. Thank you for what you've done for us and with all the things that you're about to do for us. Thank you for rescuing us in the mighty, mighty name of Jesus Christ! Amen.