“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Eph. 5:1)

Where do children learn? Is it not from their parents? Don’t we often say, “He or she acts just like their mother or father?” On the other hand, we say, “I sure hope he or she doesn’t grow up like their mother or dad?”

We expect children to imitate their folks. Like father, like son. When it doesn’t happen, we know something went wrong or in some cases, right. Makes me think of the country song, “Mother Tried.” I think that is why Paul uses the phrase, as beloved children.

“Beloved children” suggests children that followed the teaching and wisdom of the beloved parent. Our father is God. If we are good children, we will imitate him. If we reject him as our father, then we may become imitators of the other “father,” the devil. Jesus suggested that some in his day recognized Satan as their father.

We understand that this is an introductory statement and that it is being offered with the idea that something is to follow. We are to be imitators of God for a reason. Perhaps there will be many reasons. We already know that God behaves in certain ways. He has made that plain to us. All of these ways are good ways because there is no evil in God at all. None. Everything about God is good.

To imitate God then would certainly mean doing good and not evil. Some of the things in chapter four that Paul suggested the faithful saints do were apart of that goodness of God. If we implemented them, we have a head start. But as we shall see, Paul is not going to give us a long list. It will be a short one. It’s like saying, “Do good.”

Task for today: Make sure you are in the beloved children category. Once that is settled make up your mind to imitate one father and that father is God. Can’t possibly go wrong.