Be an Imitator

I found the story Pastor Kyle shared right before Communion to be quite funny. He shared about a time Dolly Parton entered a Dolly Parton look alike contest…and lost!

What a reminder that we live in a world that vies for our attention and that promises it’s worth following. Even in our social media, we “follow” our “friends” and get to see what’s happening in their lives. Or more realistically, we get to see an edited and polished version of their life. Everyone posts smiling family photos. Not everyone will post the first eight tries that it took to get the “perfect” photo. So, when Paul tells us to imitate God and walk in love as Jesus did, we need to pay attention because this is the real thing. We need to pay close attention to the exhortation because it reminds us we need to pray to our Father (Matt. 6:8) and keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2) so we can be proper imitators. And, to clarify, this is only for God’s Beloved Children. It’s for those who are in His family that He wants to have close so we can know Him, watch Him at work, and see how to live our lives based on Him. The culture will fight for us to follow it in any number of ways, just as the cultural battle was real for the Ephesians. But we’re not of the culture or of the world anymore. We’re a new person with a new life with a new One that we’re following, while all the rest are just imitations themselves. 

Let’s Keep Walking with Jesus, the Truth,

Pastor Andy

Please read Eph. 5:6-14 for Sunday.

Questions:

• What practices help you keep your eyes on Jesus?
• What does being told by Paul, to be an imitator of God, look like in your life?
• Who is someone that is a genuine imitator of God who has had a big impact on your life? And, who are you passing this along to in your life?

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