Ephesians 5: 1 – 2
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 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.” (NLT)
“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (NASB)
That first phrase – “imitate God” or “be imitators of God” – really makes me stop and think. How in the world would I be able to imitate God. He is so omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? He is so amazing that I can barely comprehend who he is. Yet, Genesis 1: 26 – 27 says:
“Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
God created us to be a little bit like himself. In Genesis we see God walking in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. They were friends. But then Satan’s temptation to be in charge themselves, be independent, threw our world into chaos. Christ’s death and resurrection made it possible to restore that connection with God when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice for us. As his child, I need to go back to being more like him.
A memory of my oldest daughter flashed into my mind as I thought about imitating. When she was around 2 years old, she had a play telephone – a copy of our old phones with dials. She loved to play with that phone, and one day I overheard a conversation she was having with basically no one – just talking with her phone. The wording she used and the inflection of her voice as she said hello was exactly like me. I remember stopping dead in my tracks when I heard that little voice, and felt overwhelmed at the realization she imitated me.
So when this verse says “imitate God”, it doesn’t mean we are God. But we are small replicas of him. We are his “dear children”.
What does he want us to do? “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ”. Take a few moments to think about Jesus’ life as we know it from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What was he like? What did he do? How did he show his love for people?
(Did you take the time to really think about what Jesus was like?)
It is such an enormous challenge. Jesus lived his life totally loving and caring for those around him. In comparison, I am so self-centered. I like to make sure I do things I enjoy, have friends who I get along with just fine. I do like to help others, but it’s nowhere near a huge part of my life.
These next 2 chapters of Ephesians are going to give us practical ways of imitating Christ. But those introductory verses start us off with the overriding challenge:
“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.”
Thank you Heavenly Father for giving me your Holy Spirit. I completely need your strength and help to live a life filled with love. Forgive me for the times I’ve ignored people because I’ve been too focused on what I want. Help me to listen to your small voice that prods me to love those people I meet every day – and be willing to go out of my way to do that.
Our song for today is The Cause of Christ by Kari Jobe.