“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” ~ Ephesians 5:1

Bouncing off where we left off last week Friday, we will start today’s devotional with a question: What kind of life did Jesus live?
Our anchor Scripture for today tells us to imitate God, as we are His children. However, we can only imitate when we see what was done in the first place.

For parents reading this, you have most likely had moments when you see your child doing something you regularly do. That’s because they have watched you over and over, and then intuitively begin to do those things because they have seen you do them. Simply put, they are doing what our anchor Scripture says we should do, imitate God as dear children.

Now that the first point is established, you need to see God to imitate Him, the question now is: How do we see Him?

We see God through the lens of Scripture.
The Scripture was not given to us just to record tales and stories from the days of Noah or the days of Jesus. It is a key and a means to see and know who God is, His person, His character, His culture, and the kind of life He expects from us.

In 1 Peter 1:15–16, we see the first requirement for us as Christians:

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”

The God we serve is a holy God, so if we are called to be His children, it is expected that we imitate Him and be holy too.

In Micah 6:8, we see another requirement, to live a life of obedience and faith in the Lord:  “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

In Galatians 5:22–25, we see a life that exemplifies and is led by the Spirit of God:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

The list goes on and on, but we can also look at other Scriptures like Romans 12:1–2, Matthew 5:14–16, John 15:5,8, John 13:34–35, and many more.
As you dig deeper into Scripture, you will surely gain more light on the kind of life that God expects us to live while we are here on earth, representing His holy Kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, please help me to live a life that reflects the culture of Your Kingdom.