Imitating

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:11-12

I love reading about heroes of the faith. Beyond the heroes in Scripture, there are several more modern heroes about whom I have read and learned. Oh how I’d like to be like them! Oh how I like to follow in their footsteps of passion and servitude to God.

As I pondered these verses in Hebrews this morning, especially in the context of what I’ve been learning as I work through chapter six, I realized that I have long had an incorrect approach in my attempts to imitate these heroes of mine.

You see, I have this misunderstanding that if I can be just like them then the diligence and discipline that they had is sure to follow. According to these two verses, however, that’s backwards. The crazy thing is that my approach was not at all rational, but it’s the way I’ve been trying to do things for years.

I am challenged to turn that around. Remembering the lives of those heroes, their first steps were simple obedience. Nothing fancy. Nothing near perfection of attitude or action. Just knowing what God was telling them to do and doing it. But, the key with them was that they didn’t just obey in one or two aspects of their lives. They put everything they were into that obedience. Everything. Rather than taking a step of obedience and then continuing on with their day, their day became all about that obedience.

May I be obedient in that way. May I take what I have learned and act on it, pressing on toward maturity (Heb 6:1). May I make my life about obedience rather than obedience simply being one aspect of my life. And in doing so, may I become like my heroes – fully surrendered to God in every second of my earthly life.