May 5th is a special day for our family; it’s my brother’s adoption day. My parents tried for over 6 years to have a child naturally but were unsuccessful. The doctors told my parents that they would not be able to conceive a child, so they decided to adopt.

After completing all the paperwork and going through the adoption approval process, they brought home a four-month-old baby boy on May 5, 1972. Little did they know that the child they weren’t supposed to be able to have naturally would be born before the end of that same year—that would be me.

My parents definitely had some funny looks, having two children so close in age. There is no doubt in my mind that this was God’s plan all along. That little boy needed a family, and our family needed that little boy.

My parents began telling us that my brother was adopted at an early age. As we got older and understood more, they would share additional details about his adoption. But from the beginning, it was emphasized that he was chosen and loved. The fact that he was not related by blood did not make them love me more than him.

Having an adopted brother has given me a greater understanding of what it means to be adopted into God’s family. We are all chosen to be God’s children. In John 14:18, He promises, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

Nothing would make my parents madder than the statement, “I bet you love him just like he was your own child.” That would immediately get the response, “He is my child!”

What a wonderful thought that Almighty God also looks at us and says, “He or She is my child!”

I was sharing about our adoption recently with some of our incarcerated family at a local detention center. One of the inmates stated that he wished he could be adopted. I stopped and said to him, “I have good news; you can be.” When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, God adopts us into His family.

I then shared Ephesians 1:5: “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.” 

When we accept the gift of salvation, we become a part of the family of God and are adopted into His family. And that brings all the privileges of being in God’s family. Just as my brother and I are joint heirs, we, as Christians, are joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17).

But unlike our earthly inheritance that will be gone when we die, the inheritance that we have through our adoption into the family of God will last forever. 1 Peter 1:4 states, “We have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.”

Like my brother, you may not know your biological parents, but you can know your Heavenly Father. He has known you from the very beginning of time. All you have to do is accept His son’s gift to be accepted into His family. You can then have your own adoption day.