Like Father, Like Daughter

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children …” -- Ephesians 5:1

As I sat at the kitchen table sorting mail, Isabel entered the room. She announced her presence with loud, clumsy steps in Daddy’s shoes and a low voice, a voice I had never before heard from this two-year-old: “Hello, Mommy! Are you my friend?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Alright, so her voice was a little off, the shoes were way too big, and her father never calls me “Mommy.” But other than that, she was pretty on with her portrayal. Isabel knows that Daddy’s voice is lower than hers and mine. She knows those are his shoes. On top of that, she hears her parents repeatedly confess they are each other’s best friends.

This is not the only time Isabel has imitated us. She hears everything – as most toddlers do. When my tongue slipped, she walked around the rest of the day yelling “Oh, crap!” to all her toys. Whenever playing with the phone, she must pace – just like her mama. Whenever Rick is watching baseball, she yells “Go Yankees!” regardless of what team is playing. She watches us cook and clean and eat and visit and laugh. She notices every detail and is quick to imitate them, usually with surprising accuracy. She’s a natural.

If Isabel spent all her time with someone else, she may have very different behaviors. Oh, some of it is natural, of course. She does have our genes, but this girl is learning from us. She is watching our example – be it good or bad – and she is copying it. She is fashioning her behavior after ours. All this she could not do without having spent time with us. If she only saw her father once a week, she may not know that he loves to read and watch baseball. In order to be good imitators, time is required.

In the same way, if we want to be imitators of Christ, we must spend time with Him. We must study Him in the same way children study their parents. Once a week is not enough. We must know His character before we can replicate it in our lives. Time is required. Learning another’s character takes a lot of time.

I know we live in a world where time is more precious than all else. There are a million time-consuming demands and never enough time. This, my friends, is something we cannot shelve. It is too important. We cannot put it off until we have more time.

If we want to be imitators of our Father, we must spend time with Him. It doesn’t have to be an hour every morning. It could be ten minutes in the afternoon. It could be on the train going in to work. It could be at 3AM while up with one of the kids. Do it when you can, but do it every day. This is not something to feel guilty about. The truth is the more time we spend with God; the less we have to work at being like Him. We will become natural imitators. Thinking like He thinks will be automatic. Being what He wants us to be will be easy. All because we have been with Him; we have spent time with Him and we know His character.