Be Imitators of God

The prophetic word last Sunday exhorted us to give to God one hundred percent of ourselves. God has promised that as we consecrate ourselves He will do amazing things among us. Richard brought God’s word to us from Romans 12 (verse 1&2), where Paul longs for the church to offer themselves as living sacrifices, not being conformed to the way of the world, but rather transformed by the renewing of our minds.

To consecrate yourself is to set yourself apart for God. Ephesians Chapter 5 gives really clear instructions on how we set ourselves apart. Paul writes that as beloved children we should imitate God. We should walk as children of the light, knowing that once we were darkness, and we should find what is pleasing to the Lord.

In order to consecrate ourselves there are things we should not do and things we should. God is a holy God and if we are to give ourselves one hundred percent to God then we must realise that our personal morality matters to God. Paul wants the people of God to understand that they are utterly different. He warns them against sexual immorality, covetousness, crude joking and getting drunk. This sounds like a description of an office Christmas party!

It is not enough though to simply not do the things that the world does. To consecrate ourselves fully to God, to live as living sacrifices, we must live out our part in the family of God. We must keep on being filled with the Spirit, live lives submitted to one another, and as we meet the language we speak will be characterised by praise, thanksgiving and testimony and we will not be able to help but begin singing of God’s goodness. As we give ourselves fully to meeting in each others’ homes, we give ourselves more fully to imitating God.