Be Like Him

December 12

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be our example in every aspect of life. We are to live and move and have our being in the shadow of who He is and what He did to accomplish our deliverance from sin and its horrible penalty of eternal death. We are to abide in the light of the salvation He purchased for us with His own blood on Calvary.

In His letter to the believers at Philippi, Paul stated this truth in a striking way: “In your lives, you must think and act like Christ Jesus, who Himself was like God in every way. But He did not think equality with God was something to be grasped. Instead, He gave up His place with God and made Himself of no reputation…

“He was born as a man and became a servant. While living as a man, He humbled Himself and was fully obedient to God—even unto death—even to the humiliating and demeaning death on the cross,” Philippians 2:5-8. If we espouse His example of humility and suffering, we will reflect the Lord through the surrender of our lives and through the ordeal even of death if that becomes our lot.

If we take upon ourselves for His sake the servant-hood that He embraced for our sake, then we will, like Him, be faithful unto death if death is required of us. We will not cling to our position or to our pride or to our self-perceived purpose, but we will desire only His will for us—so when we have served Him faithfully, we may, like Jesus, “receive a crown of life…” (Revelation 2:10) and reign with Him forever.