By Marla Summers
In sixth grade Sunday school, I learned about the Millennium, the thousand year period when Christ will rule on earth in the final days. Something about this has always fascinated me, and I often catch myself wondering what the world will look like then. What will His government be like? How will he confront the needs and problems of the masses? And then there was one more question that would soon spark a great thought within my mind: What would the world’s orphanages look like?
Empty.
It is not news that Jesus loved the poor, the alone, and the forgotten. The truly amazing part is how. Not only was our Savior always going places, but he was in constant interaction with people. In Mark 2, Christ enters a house in Capernaum and huge crowds gather and there was no longer any room. Later in the chapter, he goes to the sea and is pursued by “many tax collectors and sinners” who proceed to share a meal with Him. When Christ stepped out of the boat in Mark 5:2, “immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.” Not necessarily the person you want to meet when setting foot on land. After sending the demons away from the man, Jesus was back in the boat and crossing over to the other side of the sea where “a great multitude gathered to Him” and He began to do miracles among them once again.
So what’s the point? Christ was intentionally open to people, not the popular or the famous, but the regular people. People that were hurting. People that were tired. People that might never have the chance to return the favor.
In fact, He did that very thing for you as well.
Oftentimes, we feel that adoption is only the dream of orphans. Yet according to the Bible, it is the dream of us all. While we were poor, enemies, and sinners before God, He opened His family up to us. 1 John 3:1 puts it this way: “Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” It is in this very manner that Christ now calls us to intentionally open up our lives to “the least of these” to feed, share, and nurture them much as He did toward us.
of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” It is in this very manner that Christ now calls us to intentionally open up our lives to “the least of these” to feed, share, and nurture them much as He did toward us.
So how are you living out this calling? Maybe it means stepping out of your comfort zone and making an effort to love someone you wouldn’t normally associate with. Maybe it means giving your time to volunteer, or maybe joining a ministry that allows you to use your gifts in a way you wouldn’t have otherwise expected. If perhaps you have not stepped out to intentionally love on one of God’s children, Big Family Mission has some great needs this year you might prayerfully consider supporting such as funding a Russian orphan’s stay at a Christian summer camp, sending an orphan a card for Valentine's Day, or opening your home to orphan for the summer.
The Millennium may still be many lifetimes away, but I believe that dream may not be. For if I were to return to the question, “What will orphanages look like in the years to come?” the answer and that reality might just be up to you.
Loved.