Imitators -
by Pastor John Fredericksen
A
few weeks ago, when our grandson was about 27 months old, we noticed
him doing something incredibly cute. He had put on his daddy's
flip-flops (a size 12) and was proudly walking around the room with a
big smile on his face. He has become a great, natural imitator of what
he hears us say and sees us doing. This got me to thinking that even we
adults usually imitate someone.
Once
Israel was in their promised land, "the people refused to obey the
voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations…"
(I Sam. 8:19-20). This was an unwise decision on the part of Israel.
God had been governing them through a series of judges who represented
the Lord. These judges certainly were not perfect, but this had been
God's design. Jehovah's response to their virtual demand to Samuel to
give them a king was, "they have not rejected thee, but they have
rejected me, that I should not reign over them" (I Sam. 8:7).
This
pattern of imitating the world later worsened. "They rejected His [the
Lord's] statutes, and His covenant…and became vain, and went after the
heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged
them, that they should not do like them" (II Kings 17:15).
Throughout the Old Testament, God's people frequently became too close
and familiar with the lost people around them. In the case of Lot, he
first pitched his tent toward Sodom but before long he was living within
the city and had completely lost his testimony. In other instances,
Israel made treaties with the heathen nations, began to intermarry with
them, and in short order began to worship their false gods. They were
imitating the wrong things and the wrong people.
This
same danger is still entrapping many believers in our day. Far too
often, we are unduly influenced by the way the lost in our society talk,
dress, think, and by what they embrace as acceptable, even when these
things are clearly displeasing to the Lord. We believers are too often
caught in the trap of being overly occupied with sports, recreation,
leisure time, and hobbies to the neglect of spiritual things and the
Lord's local work. The Lord has something far better in mind for us, and
someone far better to imitate.
The
Lord tells us in Romans 12:2: "Be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." As believers, our lives are to be so transformed that there is a marked difference between us and the unsaved.
Our standard ought not to be what the world is doing, or what the
latest fad dictates. Our standard should be what would please and honor
the Lord. There is no virtue in being weird, strange, or odd. These
things do not enhance our testimony or effectiveness as a representative
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, we believers should be different
from the world in many ways.
Believers
do have someone they should be imitating. We should "mark them [godly
believers] which walk so as ye have us for an ensample" (Phil. 3:17).
Godly, knowledgeable Christians who followed
Paul as he followed Christ and are fervent in their walk with Christ are the ones we should imitate.
Les Feldick Ministries
Paul as he followed Christ and are fervent in their walk with Christ are the ones we should imitate.
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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