Yesterday, Brenda and I and some friends enjoyed a 90-min concert by an Elvis impersonator. The young 19-year-old, Taylor Rodriguez favored Elvis Presley quite a bit. His voice was also pretty good. When Taylor sang Gospel songs, he sounded quite like Elvis.
So, this young fellow, with terrific stage presence and confidence, wore Elvis-like clothes, sang Elvis songs, walked into the crowd and passed out sweat-dampened scarves like the original. He was a pretty convincing imitator.
Which got me thinking. Who do I want to emulate?
Well, the answer is either: a squirrel or Jesus (if you don't know that joke, I can share it privately- it's pretty good).
So just HOW do I go about imitating Jesus. There's no real point in dressing like him, or growing out my beard- which would also mean I need a dye job. I am not interested in looking like Him physically, I AM interested in looking like him in my actions.
What did Jesus do? He loved people- enough to sacrifice his own life. I can do that. Will I?
He spoke the truth. I can do that. Will I?
He taught so much he was called "rabbi" (teacher). I can do that. Will I?
He performed miracles. I can do that. Will I? Wait, you say, You can't really do miracles!
Wait, I say, I can and so can you. Whereas we might not can turn water into wine, we can indeed influence hearts and heads to relate personally to the True and Living G^d- a miracle! We can feed the poor and heal the sick- perhaps not in a miraculous manner, but the outcome is the SAME! We can live totally committed to The Christ, and we do that, even for a few steps out on the water, we are living miracles!
So, I say forget Elvis! Lets you and I start imitating Jesus.
So, how's my imitation so far? I'm still practicing!
So, this young fellow, with terrific stage presence and confidence, wore Elvis-like clothes, sang Elvis songs, walked into the crowd and passed out sweat-dampened scarves like the original. He was a pretty convincing imitator.
Which got me thinking. Who do I want to emulate?
Well, the answer is either: a squirrel or Jesus (if you don't know that joke, I can share it privately- it's pretty good).
So just HOW do I go about imitating Jesus. There's no real point in dressing like him, or growing out my beard- which would also mean I need a dye job. I am not interested in looking like Him physically, I AM interested in looking like him in my actions.
What did Jesus do? He loved people- enough to sacrifice his own life. I can do that. Will I?
He spoke the truth. I can do that. Will I?
He taught so much he was called "rabbi" (teacher). I can do that. Will I?
He performed miracles. I can do that. Will I? Wait, you say, You can't really do miracles!
Wait, I say, I can and so can you. Whereas we might not can turn water into wine, we can indeed influence hearts and heads to relate personally to the True and Living G^d- a miracle! We can feed the poor and heal the sick- perhaps not in a miraculous manner, but the outcome is the SAME! We can live totally committed to The Christ, and we do that, even for a few steps out on the water, we are living miracles!
So, I say forget Elvis! Lets you and I start imitating Jesus.
So, how's my imitation so far? I'm still practicing!
I'd like to know the squirrel story!
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking. I decided to make it a blog post. Stay tuned and it will come up in a few weeks. Blessings
ReplyDelete