Opening

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it…. they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it…. we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.”* (Micah 4:1,4-5)

When God saves a human being, He completely and wholeheartedly adopts His newly-born child into the great family of God. Brother Paul speaks of this family as “the whole family in heaven and earth,”* (Ephesians 3:15) and in the previous verse, he states that he bowed his knees “unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”* (Ephesians 3:14) Every member of God’s great family is very welcome and wanted, and the great Head of this family is full of plans and hopes for everyone of His children.

This is all the more profound when we consider that God’s children are regenerated wherever they happen to be along life’s pathway. They are scattered among many different peoples. “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God.”* (1 Peter 2:10) They are numbered among many nations and races; they are of many social stations in life. Some are slaves, while others are slave owners. Some are prominent in business, while others are among the most impoverished on the face of the earth. Some are educated and intellectual, while others are illiterate. Some have a religious background, while others were as far from religion of any kind as it is possible to be. They come from all shades of religious confusion and deception.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”* (John 4:23) God is looking over all of earth’s population for any heart that will respond to the drawing and striving of His Spirit, and when He finds a soul that is willing to take the steps that will lead to true worship, God knows just what to do to that heart to make him a new creature, entirely born again. And He knows how to lead that soul and direct him, to shape him, to guide him into the very best way for that soul (both now and in eternity) and for the Kingdom of Heaven.

“Out on this dark world, Savior, am I,
Be Thou my helper, oh, hear my cry;
Thou art my portion, all is in Thee,
Oh, let Thy mighty hand ever lead me.”*