Imitate Christ

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. – Ephesians 5.1

It is great to have children around again. They are so much fun. AJ and Hud are at that stage when they pretend they are super heroes. The have the pyjamas, the costumes, and all the other accoutrements. They have seen the videos. They always want to be Spiderman, or Ironman, or Batman.

When I was young, way, way back, I liked American football. I liked the Baltimore Colts, and I like Johnny Unitas. When I played American football I wanted to be like Johnny Unitas. I wanted to wear high top black football boots. I practiced throwing the football just like he did. If I imitated him maybe I could be as good as he was.

I guess there is nothing wrong with a little bit of imitation. Most of the time it can be innocent fun.

But the problem is that we too often are tempted to imitate the wrong things. The world and its ways has a certain appeal. We are drawn to it like anyone else is drawn to it.

And too often we choose to follow the world in our actions and attitudes and ways.

But Paul says 'imitate God.'

Not THAT is quite a goal. In another place Paul writes about following him as he follows Christ, but ultimately our pattern is always to be Christ and He is the one we strive to imitate. The old saying 'what would Jesus do' may not be perfect, but it is certainly apt.

We are blessed that we can see the pattern we are to follow in His word. We don't have to guess about how to follow God. Obviously we are not God and cannot follow Him perfectly, but there are things about God we can follow. We can love. We can walk in holiness. We can do right.

When people look at my life do they see a replica of the world or do they see a replica of Christ?