One of the great demonstrations of the love of God is His willingness to be our Father, having adopted us into His family.  John reminds us of this in his first epistle.

1 John 3:1 (NKJV)
¹  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Why is being children of God a demonstration of His love for us?  It is because we are only members of His family due to His willingness to adopt us into it.  Paul tells us that we have been adopted into the family of God “according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).

Having been adopted by God, we have become a part of the greatest family the world has ever known—God’s family.

Ephesians 3:14-15 (NKJV)
¹⁴  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Paul bowed his knees in prayer on behalf of the brethren at Ephesus, but we can have confidence that, while he was praying for those saints, he took time to thank God for being a part of His family as well, and so should we.  When is the last time you thanked God for the honor of being a part of His family?

A problem that we sometimes have is not realizing how special it is to be a part of the family of God.  It means that we have brothers and sisters in Christ all around the world who love us just because we are a part of the same family.  Being a gospel preacher, my wife and I have the privilege of experiencing this when I hold meetings.  It does not matter where we go, even if it is somewhere for the very first time, we are greeted by brethren who immediately show us love and kindness.  Why?  Because we are family.

I once knew a brother who traveled from Oklahoma to Long Beach, California without staying in a single hotel.  He simply found Christians who were willing to open their homes to him for a night just because they were brothers and sisters in Christ.  They were family, and that is all that was required.

The greatest experience of being a part of the family of God is found in the local church.  There we have brethren that we work closely with in furthering the cause of Christ.  In the local church, we have the blessing of having brothers and sisters in Christ who love us and encourage us to do what is right.  We help each other in times of need, pray for each other regularly, and rebuke one another when that becomes necessary.  We do all this in love because we are family.

In a world filled with ungodly attitudes and behaviors, it is a blessing and a joy to be around others who have a like mind, simply wanting to please God and live according to His rule.  We are blessed to have one another in Christ.  Let us not take this blessing for granted.  Let us spend as must time as we can with each other, provoking one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).  The first century church grew and prospered because they spent time together as families do.

Acts 2:44-46 (NKJV)
⁴⁴  Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵  and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. ⁴⁶  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

As you wind down for the night, think about these things