Our devotion this week, I’m In, was provided by Life.Church and is available on the YouVersion Bible app.
I’m Invited.
Have you ever been that person who didn’t get invited to the party? Who got told “no” in the interview? Who got turned down by that person you liked? Have you ever felt left out, overlooked, less than, or like you don’t have a place you belong?
What’s more—have you ever worried you’re the only one who feels that way?
Know this: You aren’t alone in feeling alone.
All of us have this longing for belonging. It’s one of our basic needs as human beings. Unfortunately, we’re more isolated and disconnected than ever before. Researchers have coined it a “loneliness epidemic.” Multiple studies have connected loneliness with poor mental health, unhappiness, and lower overall well-being.
Here’s better news: We don’t have to stay alone. You belong. Not just to a place, but to a people. A family. God’s family. A family that spans unlimited people and time. A family of unique, diverse, imperfect, and loving people.
You’re not just in this family because you were born into it. You’re in because you were invited into God’s family, by His grace, to be His Church. You belong to the people united by Jesus to live life God’s way in our day.
In Scripture, we see Jesus going to the people, places, and parties most religious people would avoid. He spent time with people who were nothing like Him—yet these people loved Him. Why? Because when Jesus looked at them, He didn’t see the things they’d done or what had been said about them. When Jesus looked at them, He saw family. He saw human beings made in the image of God.
When Jesus looks at you, He doesn’t see the labels that have been placed on you. He sees you. He notices you. He understands you. And He’s inviting you to live like you’re in God’s family.
Read Matthew 9:9-13.
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Read Matthew 11:28-30.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Read Romans 8:14-17.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirityou received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Consider: What would change about my week if I fully and completely acted like I’m in God’s family?
