His Glory

One day, as Chris was cranking away, he noticed his young son playing nearby with his toy plastic lawnmower. To Chris's surprise, his son was repeatedly pulling on an imaginary cord, faithfully imitating his father. Chris was amused, but then, he started thinking about all the other ways that his son could and did imitate him. What was he absorbing each day from his father's speech, patterns of behaviour, or activities? It was a sobering lesson.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV)

"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:5-6 NIV)

When we were young, most of us wanted to obey our parents' commands and imitate their actions. Even as adults, we may find ourselves doing or saying something and thinking, "Oh, my, that's just like my mother (or father)." But because we are human and imperfect, we weren't always successful in our efforts to obey or imitate, and they weren't always good examples. Thankfully, we are blessed with a Father who sets a perfect example for us. Are we using His life as a pattern for ours? Are we, as the Scripture says, living as Jesus did? Are we acting like dearly loved children?

A search of various websites yields lists of more than 100 verses that entreat us to follow Christ's example. We are told to have the same mindset as Christ, to keep His commands, to imitate Him, to love others as He loved us (and others), to be kindhearted, and to forgive as Christ forgave us.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." (Philippians 4:8 NIV)

This is one of my favourite verses. It's not always easy to live as Jesus did, but if we focus on these eight ideals as we go through our day, we have a better chance of looking and acting like God's child.

Apache Junction, Arizona, USA