"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. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."
Lots here today! Imitators of God....in The Message it says "Watch what God does, then do it.". Sounds so simple when put in writing yet SO hard in reality! The first thing it tells me is that I can't imitate what I don't know. If I don't know what God does, I can't copy him! I am always telling my children that copying is the highest form of flattery. They think you are so amazing that they can't help but do what you do. Do we give God that amount of loving attention? Do I care enough to really know what He does so that I can attempt to do it also?
Not even a hint of immorality or impurity. I notice how it links all the "obvious" sexual stuff, and then greed. So many times that is the source of so many of our issues! In The Message it talks about love turning into a downhill slide. I liked that image. It may start out innocent so we think it isn't so bad. We don't usually start sin with something huge in our eyes. We start with one little thing and then the next thing doesn't seem so far off of what we have been doing. That goes for sexual stuff and even our words. The big and the little in our eyes. All the same in God's eyes! Maybe we start out sharing a concern, a tidbit of information, and it is really sharing with someone we trust, just so they can pray. Then we take it a step farther and we share the information...and our opinion. Then we take it a step farther and we are swapping opinions...but still praying about the situation. Pretty soon we are just gossiping and forgetting all about praying!
Today I am going to focus on my knowledge of what God does. How am I going to do that? Well, the two best ways I know of to learn about God are to study His word and then pray for clarity! So often I am busy when I try to study and instead of STUDYING...I just read the Bible. I don't take enough time to really pray about it. I tend to be okay with remembering to ask for God to help me get out of a scripture what He wants me to see but I forget to spend that time meditating after I read. Confirming that I am understanding what He is putting on my heart.
Father, on this gloomy day of rain I am realizing that I forget to let YOU be my guide. I forget that my mood shouldn't be based so much on the weather, but on WHETHER I am walking with You! As I recenter myself in You today, I am seeking to understand more of Your love.
Amen!
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