Imitate God.

"Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God..."
Ephesians 5:1

We all know how children and baby animals imitate and learn from their parents. My daughter has a friend who has a horse and a cow. The cow's mother died at his birth so the family fed him and then put him in the corral with the horse. The little calf adored the horse and followed it everywhere. He started imitating the movements of the horse, like tossing it's head to flick it's mane. Now everyone says the cow thinks he is a horse, but he is a happy one!

The cow became a horse by watching the horse. He kept his eyes on him and began imitating him. Peter says in this verse that we should imitate God. How do we do this? By watching him, reading about him in the Bible and praying for his life to be in us.

"We all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, like in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory..."
2 Corinthians 3:18

Action!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him,
And he will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6

I have often thought how much fun it would be to direct a film. To have a wonderful story to tell and look for the best way to tell it would be hard work, but interesting and creative.

Directing a film is fine, but do we want to direct our own life and the lives of others? We could even be creative about it, but is it a good idea? Are people happy with us when we try to direct their path in life? I don't think so.

Directing our life and the lives of other people is hard and thankless work. People will resent our efforts for them, and our own life probably wouldn't win any Oscars! When I look back and see the times I have gone ahead and acted on something without asking God for his guidance, well, let's just say those times did not turn out well. And if I can't direct my own life, why should I meddle in someone else's?

I think one of our greatest mistakes in life is thinking we know what is best and trying to move all the sets and actors in place so that everything is exactly how we want it to be. Even with the best of intentions I have messed things up by trying to make things happen. I have learned that I want to make God the Director of my life.

"Teach me your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a level path."
Psalm 27:11