Bringing God pleasure

‘In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.’ Ephesians 1.5-6

We are spending a few days looking at the glorious truth that each of us has been adopted as a child of God, and a second point that we learn from these verses about adoption is that it is in accordance with God’s pleasure.

God is not being noble by adopting us, offering it through gritted teeth! We are told that he adopts us with pleasure, and presumably his joy is made complete when we receive his precious gift. A gift given with joy but rejected and ignored by the recipient brings sadness and disappointment. The Father gives us the gift of adoption so that we will receive it and discover the wonders of his gift – and this brings him pleasure.

Paul urges us to find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5.10) – and surely we all want to bring pleasure to God. It can be quite life-changing to discover that we can do this not by slavish obedience to a set of rules or by extremes of self-denial, but by accepting and rejoicing in this truth that we have been adopted by our heavenly Father. We are his precious children, loved by him and in whom he delights.

Take these words and come back to them throughout the day: “The Father takes pleasure in me”.

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