IMITATE

 

Write From My Heart

May 25, 2021

 

IMITATE to try to be the same as; follow the example of

 

2 Kings 17:15 and 18 (NIV)  They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, “Do not do as they do,” and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.   … So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.

 

Ponder this: There is an old idiom, “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” and this seemed to be the problem with God’s chosen people. They always wanted what everyone else had instead of being faithful with what they had. They wanted to be the same as all the other nations. Oops…sort of sounds like America these days, doesn’t it? Remember this, God’s chosen people became worthless to him because of their utter, complete, and persistent disobedience. He became so angry with them that he finally removed them from his presence. How much longer before that becomes the fate of our own Nation? Under the new covenant of salvation through Jesus Christ, we are now God’s chosen people. The question for us becomes, who are we imitating?

 

Ephesians 4:32-5:1 (NIV)  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 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.