FEBRUARY 2
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again
to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The same Spirit
that leads us to seek for mercy as poor sinners, afterwards leads us to claim
relationship with God as his beloved children.
He unfolds
Jehovah’s gracious character, draws out and fixes the desires of the soul upon
him, sheds abroad his love in the heart, and then we cry, “My Father. My
Father.”
To the privilege
of adoption, we were predestinated before the world began; but we can only know
interest in it, or claim and enjoy that interest, as we are taught by the Holy
Spirit.
As the Spirit of
adoption,
he enlarged the heart,
elevates the desires,
sanctifies the spirit,
ennobles the aims,
guides into the truth, and
leads out the soul in free and familiar
fellowship with God.
He imparts holy
peace, deepens penitence, and fills with glowing gratitude.
Under his
influences, prayer becomes a delightful, meditation profitable, and the
ordinances of the gospel yield us pleasure.
Have you the
Spirit of adoption?
Do you feel led
to approach God as a child does its father?
Do you look upon
the word as a volume sent from a father to his child, to instruct, reprove, and
comfort him; and do you read it as such?
Of God, into my panting heart,
That govern’d by the love alone,
From thee I never may depart.
James Smith
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