We’ve all heard of how some adoptions take place in this world. Tragically, an abandoned infant or child may have been left at the door of an orphanage. Sometimes it’s even in a place far less safe than that until they were finally adopted. Either way, the little one cannot comprehend the desperation of the situation—and maybe not even fully understand it in later years. Ultimately, when grown, he or she might not even realize how horrible life would have likely been without the miracle of eventually having been adopted by someone who cares.

Adopted children are usually chosen by self-denying adoptive parents who typically must pay huge sums of money, experience long, emotional waits and many disappointments, and travel halfway around the world just to pick up one orphaned child. Before the adoption, most of these children have never had a chance to enjoy a close relationship with their biological parents. While at the orphanage, they often had to compete with dozens of other children for the fleeting affection of a hired, perhaps overburdened, caregiver. So, the adoption process is a real labor of abundant love.

Do you sometimes feel like you’re an orphan? There are moments in life when we have a little taste of what it feels like when no one really understands what we’re going through. No one is there at a crucial time. It seems as if no one around you is spiritually-minded with any kind of deep, genuine love for God. You feel alone and—to some extent—abandoned. The psalmist aptly describes the deep, ultimate solitude of the human condition in his prayer to his Creator: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Psalm 73:25).

The solitude seems even keener when surrounded by lighthearted, sarcastic persons who mock at seriousness.

“Nothing can more effectually prevent or banish serious impressions and good desires than association with vain, careless, and corrupt-minded persons. Whatever attractions such persons may possess by their wit, sarcasm, and fun, the fact that they treat religion with levity and indifference is sufficient reason why they should not be associated with. The more engaging they are in other respects, the more should their influence be dreaded as companions, because they throw around an irreligious life so many dangerous attractions.”1

Dangerous attractions! What are the dangerous attractions that the enemy of your soul is dangling before your eyes to lure you? Your heavenly Father wants to draw you away from all such garbage. Christ spoke of the drawing power of His being uplifted on the cross for our sins with the words, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:31, 32). If we do not resist this drawing, we will have a greater blessing than ever thought imaginable. We are loved with an everlasting love. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:15–17).

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18). What a privilege and honor it is to become an adopted son or daughter brought into a wonderful family!

“God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4–10).

Jesus Christ “was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:10–13). [Emphasis added.]

Power to really become something! What is a son of God like? When a child is adopted into a family, there are many adjustments that need to happen—even if the child is adopted as a baby. The hereditary tendencies are not similar to those of the parents, so the child learns to adapt (yes, that’s “adapt” with an “a” rather than “adopt”). Are we learning to adapt to the ways of the One who has so graciously adopted us?

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:12–14). [Emphasis added.] Are you led by His Spirit? Without this, the rest is of no avail. The Spirit of God is revealed through the experience of Christ on Calvary’s cross.

“The cross of Calvary challenges, and will finally vanquish every earthly and hellish power. In the cross all influence centers, and from it all influence goes forth. It is the great center of attraction; for on it Christ gave up His life for the human race. This sacrifice was offered for the purpose of restoring man to his original perfection. Yea, more, it was offered to give him an entire transformation of character, making him more than a conqueror.”2

“God’s appointments and grants in our behalf are without limit. The throne of grace is itself the highest attraction because occupied by One who permits us to call Him Father. But God did not deem the principle of salvation complete while invested only with His own love. By His appointment He has placed at His altar an Advocate clothed with our nature. As our Intercessor, His office work is to introduce us to God as His sons and daughters. Christ intercedes in behalf of those who have received Him. To them He gives power, by virtue of His own merits, to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. And the Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ, who paid our ransom with His blood, by receiving and welcoming Christ’s friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of His Son.

“No sooner does the child of God approach the mercy seat than he becomes the client of the great Advocate. At his first utterance of penitence and appeal for pardon Christ espouses his case and makes it His own, presenting the supplication before the Father as His own request.”3

We often assume that the little things in our life don’t matter much. “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” people say. Sure, sometimes we all tend to overestimate the importance of details that may be relatively insignificant. But on the other hand, we also need to realize that in as simple a matter as partaking of the forbidden fruit, what may have appeared as a minor incident of disobedience on the part of our first parents opened the floodgates of woe upon an entire planet. Yes, little things do indeed matter—in particular, those that are indicative of our love, loyalty, and appreciation toward our Lord and Master who has graciously adopted us in His great mercy. The spirit of rebellion in little things paves the way to significant transgression in major things. How does this occur?

Inspiration explains: “ ‘He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.’ By unfaithfulness in even the smallest duties, man robs his Maker of the service which is His due. This unfaithfulness reacts upon himself. He fails of gaining the grace, the power, the force of character, which may be received through an unreserved surrender to God. Living apart from Christ he is subject to Satan’s temptations, and he makes mistakes in his work for the Master. Because he is not guided by right principles in little things, he fails to obey God in the great matters which he regards as his special work. The defects cherished in dealing with life’s minor details pass into more important affairs. He acts on the principles to which he has accustomed himself. Thus actions repeated form habits, habits form character, and by the character our destiny for time and for eternity is decided.”4

“Through the power of Christ men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They have renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have become transformed into the image of God.”5

Believers in Jesus are declared to be both “sons” and “heirs.” Paul says, “If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; . . . that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17). But the “earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation [In Greek: apokalu psin—“unveiling,” “revealing,” “appearing”] of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19), “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23), as we come to our full estate as sons. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Foreknowledge comes before predestination (decreeing) and predestination before fulfillment. “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

We are assured: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye . . . heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). Keep in mind, however, “that the heir, as long as he is a child [a minor under age], differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all” (Galatians 4:1)—“until the time appointed of the father” (Galatians 4:2). He does not actually come into his inheritance until he is of age. So, every child of God is a “son,” and “heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7). We are “heirs of salvation,” “heirs of promise,” “heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him” (Hebrews 1:14; 6:17; James 2:55), to “be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

“Those who are sons of God will represent Christ in character. Their works will be perfumed by the infinite tenderness, compassion, love, and purity of the Son of God. And the more completely mind and body are yielded to the Holy Spirit, the greater will be the fragrance of our offering to Him.”6

“God calls for separation from the world. Will you obey? Will you come out from among them, and remain separate and distinct from them? ‘For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?’ You cannot mingle with worldlings, and partake of their spirit, and follow their example, and be at the same time a child of God. The Creator of the universe addresses you as an affectionate Father. If you separate from the world in your affections, and remain free from its contamination, escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust, God will be your Father, He will adopt you into His family, and you will be His heir. In place of the world, He will give you, for a life of obedience, the kingdom under the whole heavens. He will give you an eternal weight of glory and a life that is as enduring as eternity.

“Your heavenly Father proposes to make you a member of the royal family, that through His exceeding great and precious promises you may be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The more you partake of the character of the pure, sinless angels, and of Christ your Redeemer, the more vividly will you bear the impress of the divine, and the more faint will be the resemblance to the world. The world and Christ are at variance, because the world will not be in union with Christ. The world will also be at variance with Christ’s followers. In the prayer of our Saviour to His Father, He says: ‘I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.’ ”7

It gives our heavenly Father great joy to provide this wonderful opportunity for us. Shall we not respond in tremendous gratitude?

Inspiration addresses the following to many who profess to be followers of Christ: “Your calling is a high, an elevated one, to glorify God in your body and spirit, which are His. You are not to measure yourself by others. The word of God has presented you an unerring pattern, a faultless example. You have dreaded the cross. It is an inconvenient instrument to lift, and because it is covered with reproach and shame, you have shunned it.”8

“ ‘If any man will come after Me,” said Jesus, ‘let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’ Luke 9:23. Let us follow the Saviour in His simplicity and self-denial. Let us lift up the Man of Calvary by word and by holy living. The Saviour comes very near to those who consecrate themselves to God. If ever there was a time when we needed the working of the Spirit of God upon our hearts and lives, it is now. Let us lay hold of this divine power for strength to live a life of holiness and self-surrender.”9

To illustrate the wondrous change wrought through this miracle, we are reminded of the famous poem, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” by Myra Brooks Welch. Please enjoy it following this article.