Today is a celebration that I get to participate in. I couldn’t participate in Wednesday’s celebration; however, my ticket was stamped 57 years ago that let’s me celebrate today. If Wednesday was National Siblings Day, today is National Only Child Day. It’s a day for those of us to celebrate who grew up without the headache – I mean, the blessing – of brothers and sisters. In fact, I’m a 4th generation only child. My paternal great grandpa, grandpa, dad, and I are all “onlies.”
Oh, I’ve heard all the comments about only children. They’re spoiled, selfish, self-centered, coddled, overly sensitive, shy, lack social skills, and used to getting all the attention. Yes, this is true of some only children. It’s also true of some first born, some middle children, and some babies of the family.
Were there advantages to being an only child? Absolutely!
- My bedroom was MY bedroom. I didn’t have to share with a slob who would mess up everything I had cleaned and organized.
- I took care of my toys. They weren’t beaten up and broken. I had games that were in mint condition when I got married: Life, Boggle, Clue, etc. And, as some of you know, my Hotwheels and Matchbox cars still look the same as they did the day I got them.
- There was no waiting for the bathroom or shower.
- There were no siblings to argue with when taking care of the final things for dad and mom.
- Do I feel disadvantaged from being sibling-less? Not at all! In fact, I can never think of a time where I really wished for a brother or sister.
I know, some of you are thinking, “Yeah, he was spoiled!” I had advantages but I wasn’t spoiled. Even as a little kid, dad had me up early in the mornings and working on the weekends. I trimmed the yard with a pair of those old-fashioned lawn scissors. I wacked weeds with a weed whip. Grandpa and I cut and split wood in the summer and delivered wood in the fall. In the winter, I moved snow for three of our neighbors. I mowed four to five lawns. And from my summer between 6th and 7th grade through my senior year, I worked for Coy Farms in the summer.
Where am I going with this devotional? Well, think about how God is described in Psalms 68:4-6. “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. (5) A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. (6) God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”
There’s really no such thing as an only child. Everyone belongs to a family. One day, the Jews were challenging Jesus and in His typical blunt fashion, Jesus said in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
We enter this world in the devil’s family. That’s because of our sin nature. The majority of the world remains here, never seeing the importance of responding to God’s call of salvation.
For those who know Jesus as Savior, we are in the family of God. Ephesians 5:1 reminds us, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” And 1 John 3:8-10 says, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (9) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (10) In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”
Each family has many brothers and sisters. Everyone is in one family or the other. But as the song says, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God; I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood; Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this, For I’m part of the family, the family of God.”
How about you?
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