Notes of Faith September 2, 2024

Pray that your celebration of Labor Day is a blessed time!

Be Like God

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 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.

Ephesians 5:1-2

One of the most successful commercials of all time was originally broadcast on August 8, 1991. The product was a sports drink, and the star of the commercial was legendary basketball player Michael Jordan. The commercial showed Jordan playing basketball and consuming the sports drink, ending with “Be like Mike.” And it worked! Sales of the sports drink took off.

Recommended Reading:

Ephesians 4:32

The Irish playwright Oscar Wilde was the first to tell us that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”—and that may be true among humans. But flattery is not the reason the apostle Paul tells us to “be imitators of God.” It is because God is love (1 John 4:8) and has demonstrated His love toward us (Romans 5:8). If our goal is to be a good basketball player, we should “be like Mike.” But if our goal is to be like Christ, we should imitate God by walking in love the way Christ did.

Imitation requires intimate knowledge. Spend time with God in His Word daily in order to imitate Him.

Nowhere do we imitate God more than in showing mercy.

Albert Barnes

All humans are at different levels of understanding and intimacy with God. We must be as merciful and loving as God is to have a right relationship with God and mankind made in His image. Let us be loving and merciful to all people and if God allows us to be part of bringing them to Him for salvation, or to help them grow in the knowledge of Jesus and strengthen their faith…what an incredible glory of service for us!

Pastor Dale