Who are we seeking to imitate?

“But everyone else has one.”  “Everyone else is doing it.”

How often do we hear that from children when we ask why they want to do something, whether it has to do with fashion, having an X-box, or whatever it may be.

But whatever the current fad may be, this kind of attitude is not restricted to children.  Even adults can be prone to thinking this way.  The Israelites certainly were.  They told Samuel,

“Appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”  (1 Samuel 8:5)

After God had Samuel warn them what having a king would be like, the Israelites continued to insist,

No!” they said. “We want a king over us.  Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

And so God asked them what they asked for, to the Israelites’ later sorrow.

To be sure, they had some good kings, but they were far outnumbered by bad ones.  And even the good ones like David sometimes did things that had adverse affects on the nation.

It would’ve been far better for them had they not followed after the nations and instead followed after God.  But they didn’t, and it cost them.

Who are we seeking to imitate?  Are we seeking to imitate those around us?  Are we seeking to be like those we see on TV or in the news?  Are we seeking to be like our neighbor?  Or our friend?

Or are we seeking to be like God?

Now am I saying that it’s wrong to have role models in our lives?  Of course not.  Everyone needs role models.

But there are two things we need to be careful of.  Do our role models have God as their role model?  Are they patterning their lives after him?

Because if they’re not, they are likely to make mistakes that we will end up emulating as well.

That leads to the second point:  never forget that even the best role models are not perfect.  They fail.  They make mistakes.

And so we need to make sure that the things we emulate in their lives are things that God would have us emulate.

The apostle Paul recognized this, and so he wrote,

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 11:1)

In other words, Paul was saying, “To the extent that I live my life in a way pleasing to the Lord, follow my example.”

Who are you modeling your life after?

The Israelites modeled their lives after the nations around them, nations that were not following after God, and it ultimately led them into sin and, eventually, exile.

The same can happen to us.  By following others, we can find ourselves deep in sin, and far from God.

How much better to instead follow after the God who loves us.  As Paul also wrote,

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  (Ephesians 5:1-2)