Imitate

Today, Paul finishes up his second letter to the Jesus followers in Thessalonica by talking about the importance of imitation in our spiritual journey.


2 Thessalonians 3
6 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. 8 We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. 10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” 11 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. 12 We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. 13 As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. 14 Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. 15 Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister. 16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all. 17 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting - Paul. I do this in all my letters to prove they are from me. 18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.


Imitate. As you read through the letters Paul wrote (especially in this passage), you begin to see a pattern of imitation. It begins with imitating God and Jesus (check out Ephesians 5:1-2). It moves to imitating someone that is a little further along in their spiritual journey (check out Philippians 3:17). It comes full circle when someone imitates you and becomes an imitator for other followers (check out 1 Timothy 4:12). Paul followed this same pattern in his own life ... learning to imitate Jesus (check out Galatians 1:11-17) ... being mentored by Barnabas (check out Acts 11:22-25) ... mentoring Timothy (check out Acts 16:1-4). Where are you at on your journey ... who are you imitating ... who is imitating you?