Text: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1).
Have you ever imitated anyone? When I was a child I remember imitating or mimicking my dad while he was driving the car. I would sit beside him and watch his every move. My pretend steering wheel would turn every time the car went around the corner. My right foot would go down on my imaginary break pedal and my left foot on my imaginary clutch pedal every time the car slowed down or stopped. I watched his foot movements and hand movements as he started the car in motion. I imitated him as he shifted gears and checked the rearview mirror.
In my mind, I could drive to any of the nearby towns without missing a turn or curve in the road. I knew where and how to stop, turn, shift gears, park and return safely because I had imitated my dad so many times. I was an imitator. In my mind my dad was a perfect example of what a dad should be.
Most of us probably have played cowboys and Indians. I remember the Roy Rogers gun and holster set I had. This was a real neat six-hooter that shot a round circle of 6 caps. I practiced drawing that gun from the holster just like I imagined Roy did.
As a little fellow, we didn’t have TV in the country, but we did have a radio. I used to listen to the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans radio shows. Since I couldn’t see the action, the voice diction, the music and the shooting brought the action to life in my imagination. Roy was a real hero to me and I wanted to be just like him. He was the good-guy who always came out winning.
As I got older, perhaps matured a little, there were still times I looked up to people and wanted to be just like them. In high school I looked up to my band director. I wanted to be like him. He was about six foot three inches and was from Finland. His music ability was outstanding. His name was Charles Luoma and he had played under the direction of John Philip Sousa.
He played every instrument in the band. I wanted to do the same thing. I had that opportunity, although I was not really good on most of them. I did end up playing the trumpet and the baritone. I liked the baritone because it was the instrument of choice for Mr. Luoma. I imitated him as much as possible, but did not have the years of experience he had. I loved to imitate his manner of directing and would on occasion be given the opportunity to direct. A few years after I graduated from high school, Mr. Luoma died and I lost a wonderful friend and mentor.
As the years passed, there were others I mimicked or imitated, but then I realized I should be imitating one far more important than any other. I now realize that the God who created me knows me and has given me important advice and direction and He is the one whom I should imitate.
Paul reveals in his letter to the Ephesians whom we should imitate. He said, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1).
You might ask yourself, “How can I imitate God because God is holy, He is one, He is eternal, He is just, He is omniscient (that is He knows everything), He is omnipresent (meaning He can be present everywhere at the same time), and He is omnipotent (which is to say He is all powerful)”.
None of us is holy meaning no one compares to God. His Word tells us “There is no one holy like the LORD….there is no Rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). As individuals traveling through our earthly life, we tend to change. We change jobs, friends, views, attitudes when our situations change. When you think about it, a rock is a rock and it never changes. God is our Rock because he is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
In our present state, we have not been around forever. In other words, there was a time when we entered this world through birth. God is different. God is eternal because He has always been or He has always existed. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). God is the beginning and the ending.
Mankind was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). He not only created us, but He gave us the breath of life that will keep us going through this earthly life. God blesses us and is very gracious to us, but He is also our judge. His justice is like no other. It is fair and impartial. There is no discrimination.
There is no jury to make a decision like we have in our courtrooms today. He is the judge and He doesn’t need a jury. “For the LORD is a God of justice” (Isaiah 30:18). Our justice system does not compare and will never compare to His justice.
We know that God knows everything. Is there anyone in here that knows everything? All we know is what we can remember or what our memory will retain. God knows everything that has happened in the past; things going on today and events that will come in the future. He even knows our very thoughts (Psalm 94:11). We cannot match up to God in this respect.
How many different places can you be at the same time? That might be a silly question, because we know we can be present at only one place at any given time. Sometimes we would like to be in more than one place at the same time, but it will never happen because we are not God.
Since God is everywhere at all times, there is no way we can hide from Him. He knows where we are, what we are doing, and what we are thinking every second of our life. We, as human beings, are not capable of imitating God in this respect.
People spend a great deal of money trying to put power in their bodies. Many go to the gym. Some concentrate on high protein products to build up muscle mass. This is not a bad thing to do, but no matter how much muscle we have, we will never be all powerful.
We will never be able to lift everything we desire to lift. We will never be able to run all over the country like Forrest Gump did in the movie. We may have wonderful abs and a powerfully strong back, but there will always be a limit as to what we will be able to accomplish. The bottom line is that we will never be able to do everything we want to do.
God is all powerful in that He can do all things. “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places” (Psalm 135:6). Man is not all powerful because he cannot do all things.
How, then, do we imitate God? We know the ways we can’t, so what are the ways we can imitate Him?
Our Scripture reading gives us three ways to imitate God. The three ways are as follows:
1. We can walk in love.
2. We can walk in light.
3. We can walk in wisdom.
Paul’s words to the Ephesians and to us about walking in love is: “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (v. 2).
God is our Father and He loves us.
I would like to think that each one of us had parents who loved us. I do not mean that they satisfied us with material things, but they satisfied our inner being by the way they treated us in word, deed, and companionship. They corrected us when we did wrong, but the manner in which the correction was made was not degrading.
I want to tell you that I had the greatest parents of all. I hope you can say the same about your parents. We all realize that all parents are not like ours. As I look out today, I see children and young people that are living lonely lives because their parents are engrossed in their own life.
Young people are left alone in the morning to get themselves ready for school. The house is empty. Maybe they have breakfast and maybe not. They lock the door behind them when they leave the house and put the key in their pocket or on the chain around their neck.
When they come home after school, the key opens the door to an empty house. The young people begin to seek companionship with whomever they can. Many times they choose the wrong friends who lead them down a sinful path. Drugs, sex, alcohol, stealing, and lying become a part of their life. School work goes undone and attitudes change. Respect for others becomes a thing of the past.
This happens when the family bond of fellowship, companionship, and love is lost. Parents are too busy doing things they want to do. The family mealtime turns to individual mealtime. Members are not interested in talking to one another about their daily activities. Parents don’t have time to talk to and listen to the children. Parent-school teacher interaction is non existent.
Children aren’t encouraged to participate in activities like sports, instrumental music lessons, dance lessons, voice lessons, church activities, hobbies, or any other activity that would help that child’s build self-esteem and at the same time provide fellowship leading to love and understanding of others.
Children need someone to look up to or someone they can imitate. There are many good ball players, musicians, dancers, singers, and people of God who have been imitated by the young and the old.
Since we are members of the family of God, we have a Father who loves us. We have a Father who is never too busy to listen to us. We have a Father who is interested in our earthly life and our eternal life. It is because of His love for us that we are assured of spending eternity in His presence.
We make mistakes, but God still loves us. Our earthly friends may make life miserable for us by their words or their actions, but we should still love them. When we continue to love people, regardless of how they treat us, we are walking in love with our Father. Jesus loved those who crucified Him. From the Cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Jesus gave His life for you and for me. We could not save ourselves. We could not pay our sin debt. Jesus loves mankind so much that He paid the price to save all of us. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
We walk in the love of God when we love His children. We walk in the love of God when we reach out to help other people. Jesus helped people in His daily walk. He helped the paralytic, He helped the woman with the bleeding issue, and He helped the two blind men. He helped the man who could not speak, He helped the guests at the wedding in Cana, He fed the four thousand and the five thousand, and the list goes on and on.
We walk with God in love when we do whatever we can to bring comfort and peace to someone who is hurting. When we meet someone who is hungry, we give them food. When someone is homeless, we help them find shelter. Those who are in nursing homes we visit.
When someone needs a shoulder to lean on, we provide ours. We help them by taking time to provide for them. When we do these things, we walk with God in love, because this is exactly what Jesus did. We then imitate our God.
Paul tells the Ephesians, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). People who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and savior are no longer living in the darkness.
They have placed their life in the hands of the One who gave His life for their redemption and salvation. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).
Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We are the light of the world because by faith we have accepted Him. His light shines down upon us and is reflected from us to those around us. The light shining from us indicates to the world that we are different. The difference is demonstrated by the way we live, the attitude we have, the way we treat people, the language we use, the people we associate with, and the works we do that glorify our heavenly Father.
We are walking in the light when all we do and say reflects the image of God. His saints let the light shine through.
Story: “Letting the Light Shine Through”
A small child was taken to a cathedral. She sat watching the sunshine through the windows. She asked her mother, “What are these people on the windows?” “They are saints,” was the answer. Then the child said, ‘Now I know what saints are. They are people who let the light shine through.”
---------------------Toronto Globe
There are people today who are living in darkness. They are living for themselves and many times at the expense of someone else. They only care about today and never consider their destiny. Most never give praise or glory to the One who gave them the breath of life. Many do not consider the One who can change their life because of His love for them. We can imitate God by letting His light shine through us to them.
Story: “A Lighthouse Lesson”
A friend told us that he was visiting a lighthouse lately, and he said to the keeper, “Are you not afraid to live here? It is a dreadful place to be in constantly.”
“No,” replied the man, “I am not afraid; we never think of ourselves here.”
“Never think of yourselves! How is that?”
The reply was a good one: “We know that we are perfectly safe, and only think of having our lamps brightly burning, and keeping the reflectors clear, so that those in danger may be saved.”
This is what Christians ought to do. They are safe in a house built on a Rock which cannot be moved by the wildest storm; and in a spirit of holy unselfishness they should let their light gleam across the dark waters of sin, that they who are imperiled may be guided into the harbors of eternal safety.
----------------------------The Quiver
We walk in the light when we “Let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
The third thing Paul tells the Ephesians is that they should walk in wisdom. He said, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fool but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15).
To walk circumspectly means that as Christians we need to walk cautiously or watchfully. Have you every experienced walking through the yard in your bare feet? I know people who have no trouble doing this, but I never could. Military personnel who are walking through enemy territory walk very cautiously because they do not want to step on traps or land mines.
As Christians we need to be very careful in our daily walk because of the evil in the world. The devil is working overtime to set traps and destroy God’s people. Those of us who are Christians know that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). God is stronger than the devil. The Holy Spirit lives within our heart. We can be assured that He will conquer all evil.
People who do not believe as we do are more likely to be influenced by the devil. The drug issue in the world is out of hand. Lives are being ruined by people ingesting, smelling or injecting drugs into their bodies.
Alcohol also causes a false sense of security by a temporary “high” or “good feeling.” People are committing suicide because of these drugs. Theft and robberies are at an all-time high because people will do anything to get what their bodies crave.
God created us in His image that we might glorify Him. He gave us a mind and the ability to make choices. He has given us directions concerning the way to live. He wants us to use our common sense to follow the straight and narrow path. He wants us to be filled with the Holy Spirit instead of worldly spirits. He gave His Son for payment of all past, present, and future sins.
He wants us to treat His other children with respect and dignity. He wants us to forgive those who do us wrong. He wants us to turn our life over to Him and to submit to Him on a daily basis. He wants us to accept His Son so that we will be able to spend eternity in His kingdom.
When we listen to His voice and follow His Word we will be walking in wisdom.
Conclusion:
Whom should we imitate?
We should imitate the one and only perfect example.
Who is that perfect example?
Our perfect example, our mentor, our leader, our Savior is non-other and God the Father.
We can imitate God by walking in His love, His light and His wisdom.
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1).
Amen.
