Imitation

During my time with the Lord this morning, I was thinking about the message series that we have been going through for the past several weeks. “Losing My Religion” has had many people asking the question…“What’s the point?”…and I’m really no different. You see, so much of our faith experience is wrapped up in a church experience, and I am certain that many believers have very little faith experience outside of the church. In other words, for many, coming to church IS the faith experience. There is little time, if any, spent with God in the Word or prayer outside of Sunday. There is no intimacy in worship, and ultimately, the relationship with Jesus is distant. I believe it is exactly this kind of lifestyle that breeds religiosity, and causes many to fall in love with the church and not our Savior. After all, why would you deeply love someone that you don’t really know?

Reading in Ephesians 5 this morning, these words jumped out at me…

“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.”

Here’s a question for you; what are you doing right? So often in life and in the church, we have a tendency to focus only on our failings. We think that repentance is beating ourselves up. We can’t figure out why we can’t beat addictions or why we keep going back to the same old sin. We don’t understand why God won’t help us.

I firmly believe that we are trying way too hard to be good…and not striving nearly hard enough to be God.

Again, what are you doing right? What about your life do you think God would consider to be a “fragrant aroma?” How are you seeking…this day…this hour…this minute…to be more like Him?

Our next message series is called “Flicker” and it is all about joy…true joy. In my life, true joy comes from knowing that even though I was born in sin and have lived a sin-filled life…it’s ok. Even though I royally fail in my quest for goodness…it’s ok. Jesus died so that my own sin would not condemn me. That doesn’t just make me happy, it makes me joyous. You see, in our world, happiness is often temporary, but true joy, life saving joy, doesn’t just go away. My joy at what He has done for me drives me to know Him intimately. My knowledge of Him, leads me to imitate. The imitation brings lifechange.

Here are three questions/thoughts to take into your week.

1.What if life is not about being good? What if it is all about being God? What if the sin problem in your life cannot be fixed by a book or a program? What if it can only be fixed by becoming more like Jesus?
2.Where are your daily energies focused towards knowing God? After all, you can’t become more like someone you don’t know.
3.The pursuit of goodness will always find you lacking. The pursuit of God will always yield eternal returns.
4.Read Ephesians 5:1-21

Have a great week!

-Weston