Not Heroes or Heroines but Children of God - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
Ephesians 5:1 NKJV

Not Heroes or Heroines but Children of God
It is wonderful when the heart of man really meets the heart of God. The moment I am brought through grace into full distinct consciousness that there is no good in me, I find this; I find the perfect blessed love of God which has met me where I am in His presence.

At the cross you see sin meeting God, Christ being made sin for us, and the nature of God glorified, far more than merely sin being put away. While the Lord puts away sin, He prepares the way to the accomplishment of all the counsels of God. At the cross I find man made sin in the presence of God—a divine Person too, of course. There is love that has met me in my sins, and now there is righteousness in the presence of God, our Forerunner being there (Heb. 6:20). The truth is there; but there is also the perfect love of God to put away sin. The heart is then free to trust the love unhinderedly.

Remember this, beloved friends: I am not my own at all now; I am in a new place altogether, a place into which I have been brought in perfect love, in divine righteousness, in the presence of God Himself. We have power now, the power of the Holy Spirit. The Christian is in this world to show what Christ is. If you call yourselves Christians, you are the epistle of Christ: it is not merely said you ought to be, but you are. He sends you back to the world to witness what God is. You have responsibility as a Christian now, not as a man.

All responsibility flows from the place we are in. If Christian responsibility is measured, as a child of God, nothing that does not suit the blood of Christ suits you. Is Christ the motive of everything you do, and this in things of everyday life? For you are not to be heroes and heroines. Is Christ all and in all? “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us (Eph. 5:1–2). Walk as children of the Father.

-- J. N. Darby