Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
St. Paul encourages us to be imitators of Christ. When I first hear the word “imitate” I think back to my childhood when we would imitate others to get on their nerves or to make them angry. We would repeat everything the other person would say. And this would go on until the emotions got really heated and things did not turn out so good. But this is different. We are to imitate Jesus, to do or follow in Jesus’ footsteps.
There are many ways in which we should imitate Jesus and we think of those right away: feed the poor, clothe the homeless, care for the sick, etc. Love one another as Jesus has loved us. But there are more ways to imitate Jesus that we sometimes forget or put on the back burner so to speak. What about praying to God, worshiping and praising God, and doing God’s will.
One of the best ways of imitating Jesus is to pray to God. Jesus took time in His busy life to find a quiet place and pray to God. He would have a conversation with God. Asking Him and listening to Him. As humans we don’t always like quiet time and have that intimate time with God. We think we are too busy to take that time and pray to God. But we are called to imitate Christ and pray to God.
Next, we need to take the time like Jesus did and worship and praise God. As God’s children we sometimes forget about this practice. Again, Jesus took time to be in the Word of God. Jesus worshipped God and gave Him praise for all that He had done and continues to do. If Jesus, the Son of God, could take time and do this, shouldn’t we. In coming to worship God we are fed and nourished to go out and be the hands and feet of Jesus in this time and place.
Finally, we need to remember that it is God’s will, not ours. We pray this in the Lord’s Prayer, but sometimes I really don’t think we realize what we are praying. How often do we get upset with God because He doesn’t answer our prayers in the way that we want them. We forget God has a plan and knows all. He can use something that seems bad and turn it into something good. When Jesus prayed to God His Father, He asked for God’s Will not His. The most powerful moment when Jesus used those words was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus said, “Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Jesus was willing to fulfill God’s will even though it meant that Jesus would be beaten and crucified. He would die. But God’s will was for this to take place so that we might have an everlasting relationship with God.
We have many ways to imitate Christ. Let us not just imitate Him in the ways that are easy for us, but in all the ways Christ gave us examples of.
God’s Peace & Love,
Pastor Gary
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”
1 Corinthians 11:1