To be like Jesus
This hope possesses me
In every thought and deed
This is my aim my creed
To be like Jesus
His spirit helping me
This hope possesses me
like Him I'll be.
Have sung this song in our church for many years now but this week I learned from the great Dr Leslie Weatherhead that the Gospel... the Good News is not that we try to become like Jesus but that we become friends with him and are therefore transformed through that friendship.
Jesus did not say "I have come so that you might all be like me". If we emulate the actions, thoughts and ways of Jesus but do not befriend him then we miss the very essence of Christianity. That is God seeking out mankind in order to restore a lost relationship.
The chip off the old block syndrome then kicks in. The more time we spend with Jesus in relationship... the more we become like him.
I love this songs sentiment and how it expresses the desire I have to "be like Jesus" but there is a real danger that I strive to be like him when all he wants is me to befriend him.
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