Dress Up

 

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Ephesians 5:1 

Nothing is cuter than a tiny child trying to imitate Mommy or Daddy. A little boy clomps after Dad in his giant cowboy boots with a plastic hammer in his hand. A little girl with lipstick smeared on her face and a Disney purse slung over one arm “helps” Mom shop. Even baby animals copy the hunting patterns of the parents. So why do the young try to imitate the elder?

It begins with relationship. When we spend most of our time with someone we love, we want to be like them. We will become like our heroes, so it is vitally important that we choose those heroes wisely. When we are adopted by God into His family, He wants us to grow to look like Him. He wants to be our Hero and desires that His children to take on a family resemblance. We do this by imitating His character, His holiness, and His perspective. Romans 8:29 tells us that it was God’s plan from the beginning to mold us into the image of His own Son. He wants us to model Jesus and match our responses to His. We can let His Holy Spirit produce the character of God in our lives (Gal. 5:22) so that we begin to look like our Father.

 
Who are your heroes? Are they worthy of imitation? What if your goal was to imitate your heavenly Father?

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Copying God

I love this picture.

My son Sam was about 4, the age when he wanted to copy everything Dad did--including shaving hair that did not exist.

Notice his eyes. He's not even looking at his own reflection. He's watching Dad to see how it's done. Then he tries to copy it.

That's how we learn.

Jesus did the same thing. John 5:19 records these words: " Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does'."

That's hard for us to get our minds around. Jesus was fully God, even while on earth. So why would he say he could do nothing by himself? Why would he need to watch his Father to learn?

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then absolute obedience is humility perfected. Jesus set the example for us by not doing anything of his own initiative. He waited on his Father's timing and instruction.

Philippians chapter 2 lays out the road map for us when it instructs us to "have the same mindset that Jesus had when he set aside all rights as God and humbled himself to come to earth and take on flesh and blood."

Jesus is our model. If he attempted nothing on his own, then so much more should we take our cues only from God. When we take our eyes off Jesus and start acting of our own accord we are headed for trouble, just as Sam would have suffered if he'd set aside the plastic razor and picked up the one with the real blade.

• How many of your problems were caused by you acting on your own initiative?

• How much of your stress comes from burdens you've placed on yourself--drudgery that has no eternal value?

• How much disillusionment or disappointment stems from your trying to "do God's work" in your own strength? Maybe He never asked you to do it.

Notice what Jesus says:

I only work when I see My Father already there.

• What if you determined from this day forward you would take on only the tasks that God initiated?

• What if you evaluated every item on your To-Do list in light of its eternal significance, eliminating those that don't matter?

• What if you lived in such sync with the Holy Spirit that you heard His voice and only did what He asked you to do?

• How much would that lighten your load?

Ever wonder how Jesus accomplished all that He did in only 3 years of ministry?

The secret: He never acted alone.

What if you did the same thing?