Verse of the day: Philippians 4:9 The things which you learned and received and
heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
The one thing the Apostle Paul did not have any
reservations about saying was, “follow me” or “imitate me”. We see it in this
verse, as well as in 1 Corinthians 4:16, and 11:1. The Apostle was
not being arrogant in making that statement, but was confident in the fact that
he was doing all he could to imitate Christ, and that if others imitated or
followed him, they would in essence be following Jesus. Can any one of us, as
born again believers, be able to truly say that? The fact of the matter is that
as Christians we are being an example to others. The example we set will either
glorify God or bring a blemish to our testimony, and to Christ’s Name. We will
either shine for Christ in the way that we live, or we will be hypocrites
before the eyes of the world. As modern day Christians, we have no excuse for
not living the kind of life that would enable us to say, “imitate me” or “follow
me”, “and you will be a follower of Jesus Christ.” We have all that we need to
live an exemplary Christian life. We have the Holy Spirit, who will guide us.
We have God’s Word to learn from, as the Spirit teaches us and illuminates the
Word for us. We have daily access to the Lord through prayer. The key is that
we must not only read the Word, and pray, but we must also put what we know,
and what we learn, to practice. That is one of the key things that the Apostle
Paul says in this verse, when he wrote, “these do”. In other words, I have set
the example for you, now you practice what you have seen of me. If we are the
example that others have as a source to imitate, would it bring others closer
to the Lord or put them on a path that leads them further away? Would those who
seek to be closer to the Lord follow our example or avoid us because we are
being hypocrites in our approach to living for Christ? We should not be
ignorant of the fact that our ultimate Example of how to live this life is
Jesus Himself, but God also wants to use us, as He used the Apostle Paul, to be
the living examples of what it means to live holy, and righteously; not “holier
than thou” or “self-righteously”. We need to be avid, diligent, students of God’s
Word, who pray continually, and rely completely on the Lord’s leading to apply
the truths of the Scriptures to our lives in our attitudes, words, and deeds.
We must be, as James puts it in James 1:22, “doers of the Word, and not just hearers”.
The example that the Apostle was referring to, in this verse, and within its
context, that he had set for the Christians at Philippi, was how they could
experience the peace of God by living a holy life, and relying on the Lord and
His strength. He encouraged them to be together in unity, rejoicing always, and
bringing all their cares to the Lord in prayer so that the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, would guard their hearts and minds (v. 2-7). He also
encouraged them to meditate, or think, on things that promoted purity, holiness,
and righteousness. The end result in all of this would be that they too would
learn how to live a life of peace and contentment. With all the unrest and
tribulation that we see and experience, how refreshing it is for us to be the
living example of what it means to have a life filled with God’s peace. How encouraging
it would be for those around us to be able to have a living example of what it
means to live a life of contentment, which promotes peace in our lives. The
bottom line is that we have the ability to live this kind of life because we
have the Prince of Peace. The key is not only knowing this, but making sure
that we are doing our best to put these into practice on a daily basis, and not
giving up if we happen to stumble along the way.
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