Adopted Daughter

Adopted Daughter

Esther

Read: Esther 2:5-11

As Moira pulled the faded certificate from the box, tears stung her eyes. She remembered when Roy had placed this paper in her hands as they sat in a restaurant far too fancy for a four-year-old. “I’m not just marrying your mommy,” he had said. “I’m also choosing you to be my daughter. This paper says that we belong to each other for all time.” Moira looked in the box again and saw the little gold ring her new father had put on her finger at the wedding ceremony the following week. He’d kept his promise. She couldn’t have asked for a more loving father or a better grandpa for her children.

The heroine in the book of Esther was also an adopted daughter. After Esther’s parents died, her older cousin Mordecai adopted her and raised her as his own child. When Esther was taken into King Xerxes’ palace, Mordecai walked near the harem every day, trying to gather information about Esther’s well-being. After Xerxes crowned her queen, Mordecai still kept watch over her. For her part, Esther honored and obeyed him even after she became a powerful queen. Esther refused to let the dramatic change in her life disrupt the bond that united her with her adoptive father.

All believers are adopted children in a spiritual sense. To be adopted means “to be chosen,” and the Bible teaches that God chose us before he created the world. Jesus died so that a holy God could adopt us as his daughters. The Holy Spirit is our adoption certificate, proving that we have become a part of God’s family. God promises us his full protection, provision, and guidance. Our part is to honor and obey him to the best of our ability, regardless of the circumstances of our lives. We could never ask for a more loving Father.

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Ephesians 1:5