Hi Family,
Do you like monkeys? How about apes? When is the last time you aped? Has it been a while since you impersonated someone or something? You really should be in good practice, because it is what we are called to do. Check out Ephesians 5, the first couple of verses:
"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."
Imitating God—aping God's behavior—is a wonderful fuel and direction in our lives of thanksgiving to Him. We can do as our Father has done for us. We can be giving and forgiving, kind and compassionate, loving and generous. God is our "model" in the sense that he is the One who has always shown these loving and forgiving character traits without any minute mistake.
God is not only our role model, but also the Source of our imitating Him. God urges us to be forgiving of one another "just as in Christ, God forgave you." It is really the only way we can sincerely imitate God—only when we base our aping of love to God's miraculous display of love. "Just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Too often, our aping has lacked the depth of commitment that our Role Model has shown. Our attempts at mimicking divine love have sometimes paled in comparison to the real thing. Due to laziness and selfishness, too often we have produced a cheap imitation of true heavenly charity.
Such weak impersonation of love displays not only the sinful condition in which we first entered the world, but also the sad fact that our efforts to imitate God's love will fall short of a perfect match until we leave this world. It also reveals our deep and desperate need for the divine standard of love, expressed in Christ's fragrant offering of himself in his sacrifice to God. Christ loved you and gave himself up for you. You are forgiven. You are in good standing with God through faith in Jesus. You are set free from guilt and fear of punishment; free to pursue a life of love, aping God's love all the way.
I wonder how close you can get. We have enjoyed people who can deliver a close impersonation to famous people like Keanu Reeves or Christopher Walken, for example. But you get to do something more meaningful. You get your lifetime to see how close your imitating God's display of love can get to the Original. God is with you and will bless you as you do.
Prayer idea: Praise God for sending the Savior for your sin. Ask God to develop true humility as you prepare your heart for a life of service, imitating God's love each day. Pray for those who are dealing with sadness or guilt, which is hindering their imitating God's love.
Have a blessed week!
--Pastor Dan
No comments:
Post a Comment