It is very widely believed that all of us are called to imitate and become like the one we follow who is Jesus. Of course all that desire to be His disciples that is. It is a very safe assumption. so as I think about this concept the first thing that comes to mind is the question, "what is Jesus like?". If I am supposed to be like Him then I need to know what I am supposed to incorporate in my life before I can begin.
We need a pattern to follow. Obviously we do have such a pattern in the life of Jesus we find in our bibles. It's actually laid out for us in living color you might say. Sadly though we still get hung up trying to figure out the what rather the who we are to be like. You see it is not about imitating His deeds, although we will mention more on that in a moment, but about becoming like Him in regards to the person and character of Jesus.
Sounds simple and actually is made much more difficult than it really is supposed to be. You see Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice by giving His life in our place and providing as a result a full pardon, forgiveness, and power to live. It is by grace that we are saved and redeemed. There is nothing you and I can pay to obtain more from God. He has provided it all. Now that is a big idea!! Let that sink in for every area of life that we strive to accomplish in the Lord. We can't add to the work of Jesus. We CAN enjoy and receive all that He has provided. Ok, I know it is still hard.
That is why Paul talked to the Galatian believers about not changing course after having started in total freedom. He spoke and taught them about the importance of living in freedom and not becoming enslaved over again. We need to do the same. It seems to be the hardest lesson to learn in life. Live by grace and yet not be lazy by doing nothing. You see it is so easy to fall on the grace side that we put no effort in our spiritual life and wonder why we always end up back where we started.
Anyway I could keep going on about that because it is a great subject. But let me get back to where we began. Jesus is our example of how to live. We are called to imitate Him. The plan is laid is out clearly in His life that He lived out for all of us to see.
I have been a student of the life of Jesus ever since I first met Him and came into relationship with Him. For me that was the easiest part of the bible. I figured if Jesus is the image of the Father and we are to know the Father in heaven then a good place to start is to know Jesus. So over the years I have spent a lot of time getting to know Jesus so that I could also as a result know the Father. Here is a thought that has helped me through the years: Everything Jesus was and did shows us the nature of the Father.
Here is another thought: There is nothing that Jesus shows us that He doesn't want us to copy! Ever heard them say on a TV show, "warning, don't try this at home" when they are doing something dangerous? Well Jesus has no disclaimers in His saying, "now don't try this for your life, this is only for me, you can't do this". Does that sound like something Jesus would even say??
Rest assured that it is not. In fact everything He did was in order to teach us a lesson and equip us for life. Let's go a step further and say that Jesus showed us how in order for us to do the same! Wow did you get that? Let your spirit catch the possibilities that this implies. Read the stories with new insight and prayerful meditation to see what we are empowered to do in this life.
Here is challenge to think about as you pursue the Lord. What part of Jesus are we supposed to be like? Now that will take time to answer. It is not meant to be answered quickly but to make us think and open the realm of possibilities that God has planned for you and I. All of us choose the parts or aspects of Jesus we doctrinally think we are to imitate. But do you think we can pick and choose which part?
Adding to this idea I must admit that my concept of Jesus and all He wants us to be expands over time. The closer I get to Him the more I understand and the more I want to be like Him. It is important to take the limits off our belief system. Expand the possibilities and the awesomeness of our God towards us. Remember this as you meditate on theses thoughts: He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think according to His power which works in US!! (Ephesians 3:20)
