2 minute read.
Daily Reading: Isaiah 51:1-53:12 ESV, Ephesians 5:1-33 ESV, Psalm 69:19-36 ESV, Proverbs 24:7 ESV
Daily Verse: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Ephesians 5:1 ESV)
MIMETES (3402): “A follower,” is always used in a good sense in the NT. In Eph 5:1 it is used in exhortations, accompanied by the verb ginoamai, “to be, become,” and in the continuous tense.”[1]
To become.
Paul wants the Ephesians to become more like Jesus. Becoming a disciple of Christ means learning how Jesus handled life, then doing the same thing in our own life.
As followers of Christ, becoming more like Jesus takes work. My human nature doesn’t want to do what Jesus did. Loving people who intentionally OR unintentionally hurt me challenge the best of us. Yet Jesus loved those who persecuted Him and killed Him, then rose again so they could have eternal life.
None of us can imitate Christ without His Spirit. Accessing Jesus’s divine power makes the impossible possible.
Faith steps.
Becoming more like Jesus and imitating His life requires steps of faith. Imitators act. Many people talk about Jesus but don’t do a lot of acting like Jesus. Probably one of the reasons people have the wrong opinion about our Savior. Christ proved His love for us by what He did. We can prove ours for Him the same way.
We can’t imitate what we don’t know. We can’t imitate Jesus’ actions if we don’t know how He responded to the rich young ruler. Learning how Jesus forgave the adulterous woman helps us do the same in our lives. Meeting Jesus in the pages of scripture will change your life in ways you can’t imagine, but if you don’t do it, you won’t know.
Read the Bible for yourself. Make your determinations about Jesus based on the stories of people who knew Him best. Imitate God’s Son, and experience life to the fullest as you follow the one who gave it to you.
[1] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 165) Thomas Nelson
