或许你读到或见到过这样一幅令人心碎的画面：在一些国家的孤儿院里，婴儿们独自躺在婴儿床上，凄惨地哭着，没有人给他们换尿布。没有人跟他们玩儿，拥抱他们，亲吻他们或哄哄他们。工作人员过于忙碌，不堪重负，甚至不知所措。
以西结书16章中有一个令人震惊的寓言，是关于耶路撒冷悲惨境况的：“在你初生的日子没有为你断脐带，也没有用水洗你....谁的眼也不可怜你....是因你被厌恶。我从你旁边经过，见你滚在血中，就对你说，'你仍可存活。'我使你生长好像田间所长的....你就归于我。”（结 16:4-8）。
这就是约翰一书 3:1说的：“你看父赐给我们是何等的慈爱，使我们得称为神的儿女。”或者，就像保罗所说的：“神因爱我们，就预定我们藉着耶稣基督得儿子的名分。”如果神任凭我们留在罪里，我们早就死了。
但因为神将祂的灵放在我们里面，我们就能为祂而活。
因着祂对我们的爱，我们可以转离罪。因着相信基督，我们被洗涤，活在祂的爱中。我们是被珍爱的。神成了我们慈爱的父亲。祂像待儿女一样爱我们，管教我们，使我们永远住在祂的家里。这是一幅关于我们神的温柔多么美丽的图画啊！
父啊，感谢祢，因着耶稣我们是属祢的。帮助我们与他人分享祢的爱，彰显出祢在我们里面的爱。奉耶稣的名祷告，阿们。
以弗所书 1:3-10
3 愿颂赞归于我们主耶稣基督的父神！他在基督里曾赐给我们天上各样属灵的福气，
4 就如神从创立世界以前在基督里拣选了我们，使我们在他面前成为圣洁，无有瑕疵；
5 又因爱我们，就按着自己意旨所喜悦的，预定我们藉着耶稣基督得儿子的名分，
6 使他荣耀的恩典得著称赞。这恩典是他在爱子里所赐给我们的。
7 我们藉这爱子的血得蒙救赎，过犯得以赦免，乃是照他丰富的恩典。
8 这恩典是神用诸般智慧聪明，充充足足赏给我们的，
9 都是照他自己所预定的美意，叫我们知道他旨意的奥秘，
10 要照所安排的，在日期满足的时候，使天上、地上一切所有的，都在基督里面同归于一。
"In love he predestined us for adoption to Sonship through Jesus Christ." — Ephesians 1:4-5
Maybe you have read about or seen heart-wrenching pictures of orphanages in some countries where babies lie unattended in their cribs, crying piteously in unchanged diapers. No one plays with them, hugs them, kisses them, or coos at them. The workers are overburdened and overwhelmed and don’t know what to do.
Ezekiel 16 includes a striking allegory about Jerusalem in its miserable plight: “On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed.... No one looked on you with pity.... You were despised. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and... I said to you, ‘Live!’ I made you grow like a plant of the field.... You became mine” (Ezekiel 16:4-8).
That is what 1 John 3:1 is talking about when it says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” Or, as Paul put it, “In love he predestined us for adoption. . . .” If God had left us in our sinful state, we would have died. And today, because God has put his Spirit in us, we can live for him.
Because of his love for us, we can turn away from sin. Believing in Christ, we are washed, and we live in his love. We are cherished. God becomes our loving Father. He loves and disciplines us as his children, and we live in his family forever. What a beautiful picture of the tenderness of our God!
Father, thank you that through Jesus we are yours. Help us to reflect your love in us by sharing your love with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
