In my daily devotions this morning, I read again the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthian church. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 he writes, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Several translations translate the word ‘example’ as imitate.
It got me thinking about the concept of imitating. When I was a kid, we would make fun of people by imitating their kooky or crazy actions. We would act like them and then laugh, thinking we were cool. Now I know how hurtful that can be. Still, my favorite venue at Sea World is the sea lion exhibit. It’s not just the sea lions, but the mime that performs prior to the show. He imitates people as they come into the stadium for the show and people love him! He makes me laugh like crazy, although I’m glad he’s never caught me, yet!Paul genuinely asked the Corinthians to follow him and do as he did as he imitated Christ. He understood that our actions and attitudes should be just like Jesus. Do you want to know if you are lining up spiritually? Ask yourself, “Did Jesus do it?” I know the WWJD bracelets are old news and mostly out of style, but the concept is correct. Paul knew that imitating Jesus was the right thing to do.
When Jesus is your Savior, you want Him to shine in and through you at all times. Jesus understood the value of fasting and prayer. May we find that what we are doing during these 21 days is exactly what Jesus would be doing! Like Jesus, we should be praying for spiritual discernment, seeking guidance about who to touch with the Kingdom message today, sensitizing our hearts to what issues must be addressed now, and wanting to please our heavenly Father in everything that we do. We are more able to do all these things, and much more, when we fast and pray.
We can imitate bad things or choose to imitate good…it’s your choice. As Paul says, “imitate Jesus”. Your world will be a better place when you do!
I’ll meet you at the throne,
Pastor George
No comments:
Post a Comment