Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
(Ephesians 5:1)
Since most humans suffer from a lack of balance in their lives, our best counsel on this subject comes from God’s Word, the Bible. In that Book, there appears a most unusual command: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1 NIV 1984). Maybe you never realised such a statement was in the Bible. What a strange command: “Be imitators of God!”
The Greek term translated “be imitators” is mimeomai, from which we get the English word mimic. One reliable scholar, W. E. Vine, says that this verb “is always used in exhortations, and always in the continuous tense, suggesting a constant habit or practice.”1
In other words, this is neither a passing thought nor a once-in-a-blue-moon experience. The practice of our being people who “mimic God” is to become our daily habit. We are to do what He does. Respond to life as He responds. Emulate similar traits. Model His style.
But to do that, to be an imitator of God, requires that we come to terms with the value of quietness, slowing down, coming apart from the noise and speed of today’s pace, and broadening our lives with a view of the eternal reach of time. It means saying no to more and more activities that increase the speed of our squirrel cage. Knowing God requires that we “be still” (Psalm 46:10).
If I’m a pastor, it means I do more than tend the sheep. I must, or I ultimately begin to walk dangerously near the ragged edge of emotional disintegration. The same applies if I’m a businessman or a homemaker. It means I refuse to be driven by guilt and unrealistic demands (mine or others). To be God-mimics, we must begin to realise that leisure is not a take-it-or-leave-it luxury. It is necessary for survival.
Please understand that leisure is more than idle free time not devoted to paid occupations. Some of the most valuable work in the world has been done at leisure . . . and never paid for in cash. Leisure is a free activity. Labor is compulsory activity. In leisure, we do what we like, but in labour we do what we must. In our labour we meet the objective needs and demands of others. In leisure our minds are liberated from the immediate, the necessary. As we incorporate leisure into the mainstream of our world, we gain perspective. We lift ourselves above the grit and grind of mere existence.
Endnote
- E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, vol. 2 (Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1940), 248.
Taken from Strengthening Your Grip by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2015 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Worthy Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
