Day 5: Be Careful Who You Imitate (Ephesians 5)

 

DAY 5 

(Click for DAY 1/ DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4)

Worship Song: Change My Heart Oh God - Samantha Sams Acoustic Cover, and The Potter's Hand by Darlene Zschech

Reading: Ephesians 5

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. - Ephesians 5:1

A little BTD (Behind the Devo)

When I read Ephesians chapter 5 last night, I knew immediately that God wanted me to really reflect and meditate on verse 1 - but I *personally* didn't want to. I quickly scanned through the whole chapter and tried to look for a verse that was "easy." But God continued to direct me to verse 1.

"Wow, God. That's a really loaded one," I said. And He said "Yes it is. That's what you will meditate on." 

He then made me look into my heart so I could ask myself why I hesitated to choose verse 1. The answer was simple - I did not feel "competent" enough to be the person to write a devotion on Imitating God. I felt like a fraud. I felt unworthy of carrying this loaded instruction on my blog. But because He instructed me, I will yield and trust that He will place a direction in my heart for this particular devotion.  And He did. He even made me watch a sermon by Pastor Steven Furtick entitled Be Careful What You Copy  (Thank you for the assistance, Pastor Steven!😄) 

I pray that your heart receives this as I write it with all the love that I can muster. Thank you for being here today. 

DEVOTION PROPER :) 

Imitating or copying God sounds so intimidating. 

But if you really think about it, is the other option better? If you are scared to imitate God, then...who do you want to imitate?

Think about it. We say things like, "But He is God. We can never be like God. I'm human. I live in a broken world. How can I be like Him?" 

I find it funny that we can find so many reasons and justifications for falling short and for sinning. We have even mastered the art of using the "Grace Card" to comfort ourselves when we see our erroneous ways of living. And it's true, grace is there. Grace is good. Tap into it always. 

But we can't keep calling out "Grace" each time God tells you, "Imitate Me." 

In fact, grace was given so that we can imitate Him. Think about it. 

Why should we imitate Him? Because we are His children, created in His image and likeness. 

We are His copies. 

Ephesians 1 to 3 revealed God's incredible love to us, the sacrifice of Christ, and the wonderful benefits we have received as a result of that sacrifice. Ephesians 4 teaches us how we should respond to that. Now in Ephesians 5, Paul further emphasizes what is expected of us as members of God's family. 

Why are these things so important? Why are there so many "restrictions?" Why do they have to be called "sins?" Why can't I just be "happy?" 

Because the things mentioned in this chapter have no place among God's people. Christ gave up His life for us so we can be holy and clean (v 26). What are these things that Paul wants us to stay away from? Sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscene stories, foolish talk, coarse jokes, drunkenness, etc --- 

"Ang KJ (kill joy) naman ni Lord." 

How sad that our standard of joy has been severely downgraded to the earth's perverted standard of joy. Are these really the things that make us happy? 

How many times have I heard someone say - and Lord forgive me for I myself have said it, "Maiintindihan naman yan ni Lord. He knows how to have fun. He does not condemn. He will continue to love me anyway." Who are we imitating when we say things like that? Remember when the devil said, "You will not die if you eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?"

It is true that God understands, God knows how to have fun - GOD IS FUN, and God does not condemn. It is also true that His love is unconditional. 

But there is a different level of accountability for us whom He has called as His children, compared to those who are still living in the darkness. This message is for His Body. For those who have already been adopted into the light. For those who are united with Christ.

Ephesians 5:6 warns, "Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him." It's one thing to sin and not know it was a sin. But it's another to completely know that it's wrong, yet consciously and deliberately disobey God, and worse, make excuses for it! 

Paul reminds us in verse 8 that this part of our life is over. "For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.

...so live as People of Light!

He then continues in verse 10 by saying, "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord." Make that your goal. 

To Imitate God is to determine what pleases God and chase after those things.  

There is no middle ground. You either imitate God or you imitate the other one that is not of God. You either live in light or live in darkness. And even then, the evil intentions of those who live in the dark will be exposed when God decides to shine His light on them, for the light makes everything visible (vv 13 to 14). So...shouldn't we just choose light?

Be very careful who you imitate.

When I was in my 20s I told myself that I would serve the Lord when I was already "mom level." I said, "Lord, let me enjoy my life first. Let me do my thing first. Let me chase after my dreams. And then when I'm done, let me pursue Your dreams for my life." 

(What a brazenly stupid thing to pray and say. 😂)

And it's almost exactly what happened. Almost - because thankfully I have parents who intercede for me. I believe with all my heart that those prayers protected me from going even further into...things that were never going to be good for me.

Yes, that space in my life has now given me experiences that I can use as testimonies to bring glory to God. But would I recommend it to kids in their 20s now? Probably not. 

Because I realized that chasing after the things that please God has incredibly amazing benefits. It does not equate to the standards of joy that the world offers, because this one gives me a lasting, quiet, peaceful joy. And nothing compares. Nothing truly compares. 

Remember, He is a Father who knows how to give good gifts. Psalm 37:4 says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord - (the ERV version would say, enjoy serving the Lord)- and He will give us the desires of our heart. The true desires. Not the copy of what the world presents itself as desirable. 

You have to stop thinking that Imitating God will make you lose out in life because that is a cunning lie crafted by the enemy. Yes, imitating God will  make you sacrifice things as you die to yourself, but my goodness IT'S ALL WORTH IT.

In our earthly journey of Imitating God, we will fail. We will fall short. But we will not stop. Grace is there because we cannot do it on our own. But remember, grace is not there to be used as our excuse for not doing it.

PRAYER: Father God, You are truly good. You love us through our faults and weaknesses and You never give up on us. Please give us the grace we need every day so that we can imitate You. We can be more like you. Help us to stop chasing after the world's perverted versions of joy and lead us into the path that will make us chase after things that please You. We pray for those who have been hurt by a perverted version of this message, and we pray that You would heal and comfort them and bring them back to the fold. Remind us always that You are good, and that to chase after You will only bring good. Help us to live like People of Light, for it is Your true and perfect will for us. Amen.