"Join in Imitating Me"

Daniel is at the stage where he loves to imitate people.  If you ask him to say grandpa, "apa" is usually what comes out.  "Birdy" on the other hand, rolls very clearly off his lips.  "Kitty, kitty"  sounds more like "gully, gully."  Ask him what a bear says and he'll growl.  Peek-a-boo is a favorite game of his.  If I put my hands over my face, he will too.  We're still working on blowing kisses but believe it or not he can put his lips together and whistle after I do, at only sixteen months of age!  Toddlers love to imitate or follow what other people are doing.    

Paul confidently told the Philippian believers to imitate him.  He said in Philippians 3:17a, "Brothers, join in imitating me..." 

What was Paul doing that he wanted the Philippians to imitate?  

He was pursuing Christlikeness with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength...

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of you who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  Only let us hold true to what we have attained.  Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us."  Philippians 3:13-17

One mark of spiritual maturity is the desire to go on with Christ.  Paul called his readers to share with him in the effort of the zealous pursuit of Christlikeness.  What he wanted for himself he also wanted for them.  It is the reason Christ laid hold of us and we are to surround ourselves with believers of like minds.  

One of the greatest needs believers have is to live up to what they already have in Christ.  We are perfect in Christ in our position.  This exalted position is what we attained at the moment of salvation but most of us live far below our exalted position.  We have been clothed in His perfect righteousness.  Now we are to strain forward in that righteous, matching our practice with our position.  This does take conscious effort.  God has graciously given us each other to encourage one another to live according to our high position, with earnestness. 

With concentration, with the enthusiasm and persistence of a Greek runner, Paul sought the prize of ultimate conformity to Christ.  Paul didn't live with his mind on earthly things, nor did he live with his mind in the past, on what could have been.  He lived with his mind on what was real and true, what he was going to ultimately be in the future and it affected his living in the here and now.

That is how we are to live.

As you go about your day today, relentlessly pursue Christlikeness.  Show love that places others before yourself.  Let praise of God and His wondrous works spill from your lips, rather than complaining or gossip.  Take that Bible off the coffee table and spend some rich time with the Lord.  Think about the prize that awaits you, one hundred percent Christlikeness, all the time, in heaven. Your humanity is going to someday be glorified into the complete likeness of Jesus Christ.  Make conscious choices to live according to your high and exalted position, with joy, with enthusiasm, and with much thanksgiving...and remember, others are watching you, especially little ones.