Verse of the Day - Ephesians 5:1

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children..."
Ephesians 5:1, NRSV

If you've raised children, you might remember how they imitate their parents, but you might recall that they also often miss the point. Sometimes, children will think that they're imitating their parents but not understand significant contextual aspects of what they're imitating. Something that might be appropriate in one situation might be inappropriate in another. Other times, they might misunderstand the tone of something. It might matter how something is said. They might imitate an action or posture, but they might misunderstand the reasoning behind that action or posture. They might think that things are arranged merely for decoration and miss the functional purpose of an arrangement. Conversely, they might attribute more significance to something than it actually has.

In our imitation of God, we are often as children. We imitate God the way that children imitate their parents. That includes all of the misunderstandings and misappropriation of the things that God does. This is why it's so important for us to continually seek God, to try to understand God more deeply, more intimately. Like children who grow up and, over time, begin to understand why their parents do what they do and say what they say, so we as God's children should be continually seeking a better understanding of God.