“At that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. . . . Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” Eph 2:12–19
As I read through a sermon in Elohist, these words caught my eye. For so long, I had lived with no memory of my Heavenly Father and Mother. I had forgotten the home I came from—the eternal kingdom where I once belonged—and the brothers and sisters who had been beside me. Without hope, without purpose, I wandered through this world as a stranger to heaven. Yet even when I was living as a foreigner, Heavenly Father and Mother reached for me again. Through Their holy blood, They drew me near and called me not a stranger, but a child—a citizen of heaven, a member of God’s own household.
I give thanks to our Heavenly Father and Mother, who, simply because I am Their child, forgave my sins and turned me from the path of death to lead me into the way of life.