Imitation of Christ

There is an old saying that says that the greatest compliment a person can receive is when someone imitates them. This may or may not be true. But what we are called to do as followers of Christ is to imitate Him in all we do. This is a very tall order for us to fill. Let's examine just what it means to imitate Christ. To do so we have to examine just what it is that Christ did and then how we can best emulate it. 

First and foremost Jesus came to earth.  Now, how in the world can we imitate that feat? Are we defeated before we have begun?  No, because what Jesus did we CAN do.  He left heaven and came to earth, stepping out of "his comfort zone" so to speak.  So to imitate this we need to do the same. We need to choose to work with people that we normally would not work with. Maybe the homeless, maybe stepping up and working with right to life, the opportunities are there we just need to seek them out. 

Next, Jesus spent His life doing the Father's will.  We need to determine what the Father's will is for us and we need to act on it. I think it just means to be open to the promptings of the Spirit and taking up the challenges that are presented to us day by day.

We need to become bold. Many people think that Jesus never would say a cross word (no pun intended) to anyone and that He was always gentle and meek.  Well, He made a whip out of cords and drove the money changers out of the temple.  We need to show people we are pro Christ and we have to be ready to point out errors and sinfulness where we see it.  This is a dangerous activity because as you know the incident at the temple was one of the things that led to the Crucifixion of Jesus. We can and should do this with charity, but we must be prepared for the fallout because Christian ways go counter culture to the rest of the world.

We need to pray and to take care of our spiritual selves by imitating what Christ did. The New Testament mentions many times where Jesus went out and spent time in prayer. Time spent in prayer looks to the world as if it were time spent doing nothing. But our strength as Christians comes from our communication with God.  He will give us the strength to complete the missions that are presented to us.  Trying to complete a ministry without prayer is like trying to swim with a four hundred pound rock strapped to your back. Once you get away from the shore and into deeper waters you will certainly drown. 

Christ held nothing back, he gave it all when he stretched out his arms on the Cross for us. This is the hardest thing for us to imitate. It requires a level of trust in the Lord that may of us haven't yet cultivated.  We have to be so much in love with Jesus that we have to accept even death should that be where our ministry takes us.  I think of the Christians killed by ISL.  They lined up the Christians and had them kneel. To a man they kept praying as long as they could. Their example is what we must be prepared to do. Is this something that I have come up with from the deep pit which is my imagination?  No, our Lord and Savior in Matthew 16:24 says very clearly: 

If anyone wishes to come after me, 

let him take up his cross and follow me.

So, the essence of following Jesus is the Cross. If we are to be His ambassadors we have to be willing to carry the cross, falling and rising as he did, moving ever forward towards resolution and seemingly dissolution on Calvary's hill.  The advantage that we have that Jesus didn't is that the parts of our cross that are too heavy He will bear for us. All He asks of us is to try our best and He will help with the rest.  

God bless and keep you and your family this day. May the light that is Christ light your way to His side. 

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