I remember my early years of striving to fulfill the expectations that I imagined God had for me. I felt that the responsibility was on me to live up to God’s glory; I felt that my spiritual discipline would grant me favor in His eyes. In this verse, Paul calls this “the grave-tending-life”—when our hearts are timid rather than adventurously expectant. 

When I was younger I saw God through the lens of a football player who thought it was his job to make God's team by training to be good enough, and never being able to “make the cut.” My focus was on myself, and not the resurrected Christ who wanted to be the source of my life. 

The secret to this “resurrection life” was Christ in me; the secret was accepting and receiving my true identity as a beloved child of God. I could accept and receive it not because of my own doing, but because of what Jesus sacrificed for me on the cross. 

How can we learn who we truly are? Paul describes the process in the following two verses:

“God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance!” (Romans 8:16–17, MSG)

Our true identity as His Beloved is confirmed through God's Spirit, as our heart cries out, “Abba Father!” Our true adventure is to be a son or daughter of the highest, receiving our “unbelievable inheritance” and living out the Father's plan.

Father, thank You for choosing me and opening my heart to become Yours. You have chosen me before the foundation of the world, and have adopted me into Your family through Your amazing Son Jesus. Thank You, Papa! What's next? In Jesus’ name, Amen!