Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. (Ephesians 5:1, NLT)
I played in a foursome recently where all of us were having a bad day. Balls flew all different directions and the putts you should always make weren’t going in.
You know how rounds like this can go in terms of attitude. Shoulders get to slumping and feet get to dragging and unhappy words start coming out of people’s mouths. But guess what? The guys really kept their composure that day! At the end of the round, we were all sitting tallying up the scores, and one of the players said it was kind of nice not hearing the words he is used to hearing during the kind of round we had all just played. LOL! He made a comment that playing with Christians is also so fun and makes for a nice day. That made me think of this passage about how important it is for us to imitate God in front of our fellow golfers, friends, and family.
Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians was to be imitators of God in everything. This means that wholesome talk is only the beginning. For example, God is holy and gracious and forgiving and abounding in love. So these are all areas where we can imitate him and shine our light before others that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
When you were in grade school, other kids may not have liked it when you were a “copycat.” But God doesn’t care!Recently my 7-year-old grandson said he gave $10 at church to help poor children in the area. I was so proud of him, because it showed me that he had a heart to give and help others on his own. Neither his parents or grandparents told or advised him to do that. Can I tell you that as an imitator of God’s giving heart, my grandson caused me to praise God that day!
We can be inspired by seeing others honor God with their lives, but we also need to turn to the Scriptures regularly to learn what God would have us do to honor him. The Scriptures show us who God is and how he acts toward his people. Knowing this allows us to recognize it much quicker when people imitate him. And it trains our own imitation, too. When you were in grade school, other kids may not have liked it when you were a “copycat.” But God doesn’t care! He wants you to be like him.
The golf course is one place we can imitate God—with encouraging, uplifting words rather than grumbling, cursing ones. But we can go further, by serving one another on the course, caring for one another in our clubhouse conversations, and being full of hope for each other in prayer.
The formula is easy enough. Familiarize yourself with who God is through his words in Scripture. Consider deeply who he is and the ways he loves us. Then take up those same characteristics and begin to live them out wherever you go today.
—
Dereck Wong
November 12, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.