Imitators of God

Posted on by Matt Parker

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” – 3 John 11
 
TODAYS SCRIPTURE READING: 3 John
 
It is hard to believe that we have almost reached the end of our Exploration series through the Bible. For those of you who have followed along and kept up with the readings, you should be proud of yourself. Reading thru the entire Bible in a year is not an easy accomplishment. I hope that as you have read the scriptures you have learned more about God, God’s desire for relationship with us, and what it means for us to call ourselves disciples of Jesus.

One thing that we have learned since reaching the New Testament is that our discipleship is defined by our imitation of Christ. In the third of the elder John’s short epistles to the early church, he encourages us to “imitate what is good.” Through other passages that John shares, we know that God is the one we are called to imitate. When we imitate God, we imitate what is good and we resist the evil around us.

Throughout our faith journeys, we will always find ourselves in situations where we may feel torn between two (or more) choices. Unfortunately, the choices are not always easy to make. The choice may sometimes be between what is good and what is right. Or perhaps the choice will be between our friendships and our faith. As followers of Christ, we have been given the Way and we are called to imitate good, and not evil.

Many years ago, there was a popular cliche that asked the question, “What would Jesus do?” I think that should be the question we ask ourselves daily. What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say? How would Jesus respond? If we think of these things, then we can become better imitators of God.

I want to close with this quote from the great theologian, Toby Mac: “You will never look into the eyes of someone that God doesn’t love.”

Have a great weekend, and I look forward to being with you in worship this Sunday at 8:45 (Online), 9:30 (in the Gym), or 11 (in the Sanctuary).

Grace and peace,
Matt
 
P.S. I hope you will make your plans to worship with us on December 23 and 24 for one of our Christmas Eve services (see below). We are offering more services this year to try and limit the crowds in each service. If you do not feel comfortable worshipping with us in person, we will also have some online options available for you to celebrate Christmas at home.