Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)
Yesterday’s passage suggested
that we see God, but of course, since God isn’t a material being, our visual
range is so small, and even Moses didn’t get to see God’s face, seeing Him is a
problem. Today’s passage tells us to do basically the same thing, but it adds a
helpful detail. We are to imitate God as we find Him in Scripture, keeping in
mind that we’re still children, and so not granted the power to imitate in the
grand, miraculous acts. Instead, we’re to do what Scripture teaches us to do
because in doing so, we imitate our Father.
Some may complain that there are problems with the Book, or that they can’t imitate unless they have a manifestation on which to base their imitations. But the self-help book industry is valued at $12B. They often tell us how to meet our goals by imitating the author (who may have feet of clay.)
There was a point when I wanted to be like Spock.
Lots of people seem to be fond of the idea of being a Jedi, an Elf, or some
superhero. I’ve lost interest in being Spock. I know I should focus on God, but
I’ll admit that now I want to be like “competent.” That tends to mean becoming
like one person when it comes to one area, and another person for another area.
What I don’t like to admit
is that what I want to imitate of one person may be their Wizard of Oz, while
they’re really the man behind the curtain. Or, it might be their area of
expertise on which they’ve spent 20 years and thousands of dollars to gain,
while I’m trying it for the first time on a tight budget. But when it comes to
the Word, doing what it tells us, even imperfectly, spares us the deadly comparisons.
It gives us a view from the outside, an objective view, and provides grace
where needed.
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