On the Imitation of Christ

Several years back, I noticed on the Plaza in Kansas City a Thomas Kinkade gallery. I was excited to think that one day I might walk into that gallery and view an authentic work by this artist. Imagine my disappointment to find there were only digital reproductions. The curator assured me I would not be able to tell the difference. They started with good canvases and paints and were able to duplicate the very brush-strokes of the artist in such a way that these imitations looked exactly like the original art work.

In the Christian's walk, our life must so duplicate the Master's that it is an exact replica of His original work. Just as in the world of art, we must start with quality materials, so every brush stroke must look like His. This is done by complete obedience to His will and commands. We must not think we will even be close to the original by putting in our own ideas in the same way that if the workers who reproduce Kinkade's work were to inject their own artistic ideas. They would ultimately be identified as fakes and thrown out.

Then let your life so imitate the Saviour's that you are an exact replica of Him. Become imitators of Christ. In the next few weeks I hope to share some ways in which we can do this.

(The above picture is borrowed from: http://tinyurl.com/43wjklz)

Comments

Keys to Building a Good Marriage

Photo by Charlotte Duren We recently moved to a new community. In all the preparation for holiday celebrations and then the move, getting settled in our home and community, my quiet time dwindled to a few prayers on the run and scattered thoughts on the word. Add family to the mix and it occurred to me how easy it is to neglect those things which are most important. If my relationship to God is hurting, how much more so the relationship to my husband and children must be suffering! The natural ebb and flow of life is never a steady stream, but sometimes a rushing torrent, sometimes a trickle in the desert. If we women don't carve out time for our own daily study, the whole family suffers and our marriage is not the best it can be. Each of us has the same amount of time. We have today. No one is promised more or less. But we much make a conscious choice how we spend that time. Now we don't all have the same responsibilit...

Changes

Change is inevitable. Life is a journey and we cannot see the road ahead. We plan, we plot, we strategize and organize. Then some element changes, throwing the entire plan into chaos. How we respond to that change makes all the difference in the outcome. What happens when our well-thought out plan is no longer workable? Do we throw up our hands and give up? Do we lament and moan and weep over it? Do we begin working on Plan B? None of these is a 'wrong' answer as long as we don't get stuck in one too long. How important is it for us to grieve the loss of our first plan? It's important and necessary even to mourn for what isn't going to happen, or even the loss of what could be. Rodger and I planned for me to be a 'stay-at-home mom.' He never liked coming home to an empty house when he was a kid. But I think that the stronger motivation was having one of us to be there for our children...

Travel directions

I am currently in route to Washington State. Plans are for me to stay a few weeks to help our eldest child with her family while she settles into her new role with the National Guard. My dear husband and I prayed and talked about what we could do as grandparents and this is one thing we felt would benefit the boys as they adjust also. Many times in our married life (we just celebrated our 32nd anniversary) we have had to adjust to new direction. We met in the small church of Christ in a tiny mountain town in California where he worked in radio and I was the new school teacher. I smile as I remember those early days of shyness and uncertainty. Little did we know when we committed to one another that hot day in June where the road would take us. We could not have begun to imagine the places or experiences we would visit. He eventually left radio to begin training for pulpit ministry. God blessed us with children. He also blessed us with loss, not on...

Traveling Towards Home

Search This Blog