“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” Eph 5:1
One way children learn is through imitation. Who has not smiled at a baby and had that baby smile back. We can make total fools of ourselves trying to get babies to imitate us 500 times. Children imitate their parents. You can picture a little girl cuddling her baby doll or a little boy walking behind a toy lawnmower behind his dad (or mom). (I know those are stereotypic examples.)
We are called to be God-imitators. Just what does that look like?
It looks like Jesus.
“…whoever has seen me has seen the Father…Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?…” John 14:9-10; “I and the Father are one.” John 10:3; “…put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 13:14
The Father sent Jesus, the Son, as an exact representation of Himself. “For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Colossians 2:9 (parenthesis mine). Jesus is literally God with skin on. How do we imitate God, whom we have never physically seen? We imitate Jesus who we have “seen” through the Scripture and Who lives in us.
Do you know Jesus well enough that you can imitate Him, not just when it’s easy but when it’s difficult too? If not, you have some work to do in studying and learning about the character of Jesus from the Bible. I think all of us would benefit from looking closely at the Gospels to glean truth about the character of Jesus and then imitating Him.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and build up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6
I know I have a lot of room for growth. How about you?
Written by Diane Hunt: Diane Hunt serves on the board of America’s Keswick and is the Executive Director & CEO of Changed Choices, a Christian non-profit in North Carolina. She is also a biblical counselor and women’s event speaker. For more information about having Diane speak at your next event please contact her at dhunt@americaskeswick.org.
