Living in the Light

Ephesians 5:1-2(NIV)– 1) Be imitators of God, therefore, as  dearly loved children 2) 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.

When we were children, we used to imitate our parents and the way other children acted. Imitating Christ would be the perfect life for us because he was the perfect man who never sinned.  He only did what his Father God asked him to do. He was not born to live a normal life—He was God’s Son.  He lived to serve God, what better role model could there be?  We are not perfect, but Jesus’ example of how to live is something we could strive to imitate.

His great love for us led him to sacrificing himself to save us from eternal death. He laid his life down so that we may live. John 15:12-14(KJV)—12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

God’s Ten Commandments have been condensed into two main commandments, 1. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, and soul. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself.  All Ten Commandments are rolled into these two categories.  Commandments 1-4 pertain to God, Himself.  The Commandments 5-10 pertain to loving others.  He is such an awesome God.  He decided to simplify things for us because He knows we are weak and cannot follow all the commandments every minute of every day. (The 10 Commandments are located in Exodus 20:1-17).

God knew that we would sin against Him and that we could not keep all of these Commandments alone.  God cannot accept sin because He is pure and holy, and sin is intolerable to Him.  He despises sin and cannot be near it or even look at it. That is why when Jesus was on the cross, God could not look at His only begotten Son because Jesus had taken all of the sins of the world upon Himself and died in our place. We should have been up there dying for our own guilty sins; but God loved us so much He sent His Son to save us.  There is no deeper love than that. Sin separates us from God and Jesus was the only way to reconcile us to God.

Jesus says in John 14:6(KJV), “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

My prayer for today: Thank you for this message, Father God. Doing Your will and sharing what Jesus has done for us to bring others closer to You is of the utmost importance. May You draw people to this message today that need to know You. In Jesus’ name, Amen