Faith notes

May 01, 2008 06:03 pm

— Pastor Lloyd
Johnston
First Baptist Church

“And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.” I Corinthians 15:49

One of the great joys of being a child of God is the continual conforming to the likeness/image of God. As we become more obedient to God, we enjoy our spiritual growth and increasing love for God and others.
Years ago there was a commercial on television. It showed a young father with his 3-year-old son. The father would skip a rock across a pond. The son would try to do the same. Whatever the father did, the son tried to do. The words by an announcer were “Like father, like son.” At the end the young father put a cigarette in his mouth, then laid down the pack in order to light his cigarette. His son picked up the pack and looked at it as the message was repeated: “Like father, like son?” Think about it, won’t you?
This devotion is not to rail on smoking cigarettes. It is about Christians living lives in the way our Heavenly Father guides us. It also reminds us that our children and the “not-yet-receiving-Christ” people of our community look at our lives to see if we are genuine in our Christian walk and talk.
No, none of us are perfect. However, if we are daily seeking God and willing to admit and confess our sins to God and to others, there will be a growing “likeness of the man from Heaven,” This is Jesus Christ - fully God and fully man, yet without sin. Our witness will have an impact. If we grow in obedience to God, it will be a positive witness.
Like father, like son. How do others perceive God and Christianity based on your life? Like father, like son/daughter? Think about it, won’t you?