“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT)
Do you remember Gunsmoke? It was a TV program a long time ago that featured “Matt Dillon” as the Sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870’s. At the beginning of each episode Matt Dillon would face off with a bad guy to see who would remain standing. Many times, I would put on my holster and “draw” against Matt Dillon. Of course, he didn’t stand a chance against my lightning speed (in my dreams 😊).
Not only did I want to outdraw Matt Dillon, but I also imagined what it would be like to be him, to live in the late 1800’s when all it took to keep peace in the city was a sheriff who could outdraw the bad guys. It seems we each have someone we admire and seek to imitate when we’re growing up.
Imitator “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”
Maybe it’s a parent, an uncle or aunt, a friend, or a celebrity, we just want to have a track to run on, a purpose for being alive, a validation for taking up space on the planet. Something I’ve learned as a Jesus follower – the only person God wants us to be is ourselves. If He’d wanted us to be anyone else, He would have created us to be them.
But in the process of being our best selves, He wants us to model our lives after Him. That’s why Paul reminded young Timothy to “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do…” But how do we do that? How do we imitate perfection? In Ephesians Paul writes directly to the point of what a child of God’s life should look like. Not only in terms of outward behavior, but also in how we think.
Anything we want to become begins in our mind, in our thoughts. Henry Ford said, “If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right!” Do you desire to be an imitator of God? What might that look like for you? Paul specifically mentions that we should model God in how we love and speaks to the sacrificial love of Jesus. But he also speaks about more specific things such as sexual immorality, impurity, or greed.
He lists others, but his point as I understand it, isn’t to be so regimented in doing right things we forget to do them for the right reasons. I can live sexually pure, avoid “the very appearance of evil,” be generous, thoughtful, and kind, and do those things as a means of gaining favor with God so He’ll let me into His perfect heaven, and miss the point of why I should be doing them.
Imitating God isn’t the entrance “exam” for getting into heaven, it’s to render glory, honor, and praise to the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s not about us, it’s about the One we’re seeking to imitate. The closer we’re able, by His Spirit and with His guidance and help, to conform our lives to the likeness of our Savior, to that extent we’ll be effective in pointing others to Him.
Ideally, the more I can imitate Jesus, the easier it will become for me to share His life and love with others, and the more believable my words will be because they will align more perfectly with the way I live my life. Is anyone going to become completely like Jesus? Yes, and no. Yes, absolutely, once we get to heaven, but no, never in this life.
Can we grow in His likeness? I pray we can, more every day! There are people I know and have known across the years who have enabled me to see Jesus more clearly for having spent time with them. My mentor, Jim Burchett, and his dear wife Carolyn were as much like Jesus to me as any person I’ve ever met. I have their picture in my office, and I thank God for their wholesome and godly influence in my life. They were the ones who, in the darkest night of my soul, opened their hearts and home to me and loved me through that season. I want to imitate them as I seek to love the people in my life to Jesus.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 