"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."
Ephesians 5:1 (NKJV)
Recently, I was having lunch with a friend. This friend is someone I have known for my entire life, and they were also good friends with my parents. While we were talking, my friend reacted to something I said and made the comment, "You have the same sense of humor your dad had." This person had heard something I said, and it reminded them of something my father said. This was not a surprise, because being his son, and having spent so many years with my father, it was very natural for me to act like him. This is very common in families; children take after their parents and act very much like them.
There are two families in the world today, the family of God, and the family of the devil. Everyone belongs to one of these two families, and the difference is that those in the family of God left the family of the devil by receiving Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they were born again into a new family. And, as Paul said in Ephesians 5, as the children of God, we need to imitate our heavenly Father. In the same way, Jesus told the Pharisees that they did the work of their father, the devil (John 8:44), they were in the wrong family.
Paul said in Ephesians 5:1 that the children of God should imitate God. This of course does not mean that we are trying to become God, but we should act like Him, we should display the same traits as our heavenly Father. If we are not acting in the way that our heavenly Father and Jesus would act, then who do we act like? If we are not following the example of Jesus, who was the will of God in action, then who are we imitating? Just like children would imitate their natural parents, it should be natural for the children of God to behave like God, our lives should reflect the spiritual family we are in and who our spiritual father is.
Ephesians 5:1 (NKJV)
Recently, I was having lunch with a friend. This friend is someone I have known for my entire life, and they were also good friends with my parents. While we were talking, my friend reacted to something I said and made the comment, "You have the same sense of humor your dad had." This person had heard something I said, and it reminded them of something my father said. This was not a surprise, because being his son, and having spent so many years with my father, it was very natural for me to act like him. This is very common in families; children take after their parents and act very much like them.
There are two families in the world today, the family of God, and the family of the devil. Everyone belongs to one of these two families, and the difference is that those in the family of God left the family of the devil by receiving Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they were born again into a new family. And, as Paul said in Ephesians 5, as the children of God, we need to imitate our heavenly Father. In the same way, Jesus told the Pharisees that they did the work of their father, the devil (John 8:44), they were in the wrong family.
Paul said in Ephesians 5:1 that the children of God should imitate God. This of course does not mean that we are trying to become God, but we should act like Him, we should display the same traits as our heavenly Father. If we are not acting in the way that our heavenly Father and Jesus would act, then who do we act like? If we are not following the example of Jesus, who was the will of God in action, then who are we imitating? Just like children would imitate their natural parents, it should be natural for the children of God to behave like God, our lives should reflect the spiritual family we are in and who our spiritual father is.
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