Ephesians 5:1-21
Wednesday, 02 August 2023
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” -Ephesians 5:1
Some people are so influenced by famous personalities that they very often end up imitating their lifestyles or characteristics! From popular stars, world leaders and even teachers, there are those who hugely impact lives! This could be either positive or negative.
Think for a moment- are these the lives to influence us or have we missed the ONE who should leave His mark on us? In the key verse for today, we see Paul pointing us to the one we need to imitate—GOD! When Jesus walked on this earth He repeatedly told us to imitate God, His Father, when He said, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) He went even further when He commanded: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt.5:48).He said this because He was reflecting God to us through His life and wanted us to do the same.
The entire Christian life may be summed up as a life of imitating God as His beloved children! For us to do so, here are some steps to take-
To imitate God, one should be born into His family
Just as our own biological children can imitate our unique characteristics, only the beloved children of God can imitate Him in their lives. This can happen only when we are first spiritually born into God’s family as written in John 1:12 – receive & believe in Jesus, and you will be children of God!
So, to imitate God one should know Him and His ways, as revealed to us from His word.
To imitate God, we should spend time in His Word and in Prayer
To have an intimate relationship with God and know His ways, one must spend time in His Word and in prayer. When you consistently begin to spend time alone with Him, you will slowly begin to think, act and speak like Him. This in turn will be manifested in your responses be it emotionally, in relation with others and also in the way you will face life’s challenges.
God’s word shows that
· God is Truth (John 14:6) so we need to be truthful
· God is faithful and so we need to show faithfulness in all that we do .(even when no one sees us)
· God is holy ( 1Peter 5:15&16) so our behaviour needs to reflect holiness
But the characteristic that Paul mentions to sum it all up is love (Eph.5:2): “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” .
This leads us to the 3rd point -
To imitate God, we must walk in love, just as Christ loved us
Christ’s example of Love had five elements in it: i) it was costly- He gave His life for undeserving people ii)caring- like a shepherd (even to the disobedient) iii) conspicuous- visible in demonstrating His love iv) committed- nothing deterred Him going to the cross v) consecrated- set apart his life to save mankind
TO WALK IN LOVE IS A LIFELONG PROCESS!
To Walk in love, we must look to Christ who became our sacrifice for sin and our supreme example. It was His love for us that put Him on the cross. Understanding Christ only as our example is not enough; the foundation for following Christ’s example of love, is to allow the Holy Spirit to pour the love of God into our hearts (Rom 5:5). Once the Holy Spirit dwells in us we begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit which begins with the quality, LOVE.
· It's Christ love that forgave those who nailed Him to the cross.
· It’s His love that patiently sought out Thomas to reveal Himself.
· It’s His love that reinstated Peter.
· It’s His Love that never gave up on Paul even though he was a murderer
· It’s His Love again that found you and me!
This love that has captivated us, motivates us to live for Him! Since His love is in our hearts and lives, we begin to imitate Him which in turn will be reflected to others. And soon one day when He returns we will be like Him (1John 3:2).
Until that day let us keep our eyes on Him lest we fail to emulate Him in all that we do or say.
Prayer: Almighty God we come as Your dearly loved children and we ask Your grace to help us be like You in this fallen world and thus turn many lives to You. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Listen: 'More like You, Jesus. '