Ephesians 5:1-2 (New Living Translation)
Follow
God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others,
following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice
to take away your sins. And God was
pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.
Other
translations of this passage begin with ‘imitate God in everything you
do’. Whatever translation you take, it
still amounts to one seriously intimidating challenge.
Many
of us (whether we are proud to admit it or, reluctant to admit it) can fall
into similar behaviour patterns as our parents.
Particularly, when we get older, others can recognise aspects of our
behaviour that has previously been seen in our parents. It is perfectly natural for us to demonstrate
behaviour directly attributable to our earthly parents. This is due to the amount of time we have spent
with them, learning from them, interacting with them and witnessing how they
deal with others and the variety of situations they encounter during life’s journey.
In
the same way we develop throughout our lives to become like our earthly parents
through the time spent with them, it is not unreasonable to surmise that to
follow God’s example or to imitate God, we need to spend more time learning
about him, getting to know him before the way we live our lives will reflect
what we have learned and change accordingly.
The
way a child behaves can sometimes (but not always) be indicative of the type of
relationship they have with their parents.
Similarly, the way Christians behave in their own daily lives can
reflect the strength of their relationship with their Heavenly Father.
One
aspect of these relationships not previously mentioned is the love needed to
cement the relationship with our earthly parents and our Heavenly Father. It is written that the sacrifice that Jesus
made was like ‘sweet perfume’ to his Heavenly Father. The love between the Father and the Son and
the Son and the Father does not happen without sacrifice. The relationship with our earthly parents and
our Heavenly Father will not always be easy.
It may require sacrifice, patience, forgiveness and all the other
qualities found in love and described beautifully in 1st Corinthians
13, understandably the passage of scripture most heard at weddings.
(I
apologise sincerely to anyone who has had a difficult relationship with their
parents but what I’m writing this day, I hope and believe would apply to the
majority of us.)
Prayer Heavenly Father, we thank you for the
beauty of this world you have created, and how each day, the variety of weather
that you send colours the world in a variety of ways. We thank you especially for the snow that
shows the countryside in yet another different but still beautiful way. Creator God, help us continually get to know
you and understand you better and help us behave in ways that reflect this
additional knowledge and understanding. Amen
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