Imitation - The highest form of flattery

A lot of people say imitation is the "highest form of flattery." It's always really fun and entertaining when we see somebody imitate and act like somebody else. I always think about Dan Aykroyd doing his Julia Child impression on Saturday Night Live back in the '70s. He probably spent a lot of time watching and studying her - making sure that the imitation was as close as possible to the real person.

As Christians - we should ALL be practicing an imitation of one person. Spiritually, we're called to imitate our God. Paul says in Eph. 5:1 - "Be imitators of God..."

In order to be imitators of God, there's some things we need to do. First of all, we need to always be showing love - just as Christ showed love. Christ displayed His love to everyone He came in contact with - do we do that same thing?

Secondly, if we're going to be imitators, we've got to learn more. - We have to be STUDENTS of God's word. That means reading and studying it daily. - And not just reading it, but DOING what it says. - Like James says in James 1:22 - "Be Doers of the word, and not hearers only..." If we're going to imitate God, we've got to learn - and do - what His Word says.

And Thirdly, if we're going to be imitators of God, we need to make sure that our behavior is pure. We need to get sin out of our lives. Any sin that we have in our life, is going to keep us from fully imitating Him. - So we need to make sure our hearts are pure.

Imitating God is not just a suggestion - it's a necessity.