[279 words]
They’re called “baby hatches.” They were designed as a way for parents to anonymously drop off unwanted babies which might otherwise have been abandoned in the street. An infant is placed in a box that is built into a wall of a safe haven. When the box is closed, an alarm goes off, letting the staff of the facility know that a baby has been deposited. The staff waits five to ten minutes before retrieving the baby, allowing the person who left the infant to remain anonymous.
In China, most abandoned infants have special needs. From January through March 2014, 262 unwanted babies were abandoned at the baby hatch in Guangzhou, China, forcing the overcrowded facility to discontinue the program (New Delhi Television, March 17, 2014).
While a parent or guardian might abandon a child, God doesn’t abandon His children. God has promised His children that He will never abandon them (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5).
Husbands abandon wives, wives abandon husbands; parents abandon children, friends abandon friends; but God doesn’t abandon His children.
A Christian might fail, fall, and flounder spiritually, but God doesn’t abandon His children.
In Luke 15, in the parable of the wasteful son who decided to abandon his family, the father never abandoned his hope that his son would return.
A Christian might decide to abandon God by giving in to temptation and returning to a life of sin, thereby disconnecting himself from God (Isaiah 59:2), but God never decides to abandon His children.
“I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (1 Corinthians 6:18).
Troy Albers
Rosenberg, TX