Have you ever seen an impersonator? They do impressions of other people. They have their mannerisms down, they have their voice down, they say things the person would say and do things the person would do. I have seen a few over the years, but my favorite has to be Dennis Swanberg. He does a variety of characters. I’ve heard him do Billy Graham, Barnie Fife, and Howard Cosell; however, my all time favorite of his is Jimmy Stewart. If you close your eyes, you’d swear it was Jimmy Stewart himself. In order for him to grasp these people and duplicate them, he had to spend hours and hours studying them, watching their every move. He had to become them in his mind in order to present them on the outside.
In Ephesians 5:1-2 Paul tells us to “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” We cannot imitate Christ unless we study Him for hours and hours-even a lifetime- becoming aware of His every move. We must become like Christ on the inside in order to present Him on the outside. Our desire as Christians isn’t to simply imitate Christ for a few minutes and then go back to our old self. Our desire is to be completely transformed into a new creation [2 Corinthians 5:17]. This takes time, dedication and intimacy. It takes relationship.
Who do your actions and words say you are? If you are not reflecting Jesus today, it’s not too late. Allow Him to have control of your life. This is a daily dying to self. With His grace, it can be done. Our desire is to have others saying, “If I closed my eyes, I’d swear that was Jesus Himself.”