An Imitable Life

Am I leading an imitable life?

I remember the first time I was in a conversation and this question was posted for part of our discussion.

We were looking at the way Jesus worked with His disciples. He created a discipling culture in an environment that became more and more hostile to his way of life. A life that followed the Father with an appropriate mix of invitation and challenge. He taught this ragtag group of men to DO and Be like him in such a way that when they were released, it would change the course of history forever.

In a recent conversation I was asked if the mission of Visual Faith® Minsitry was to get more people to color. Coloring images. Coloring Bible margins. Coloring anything.

Somehow we have missed the mark, if that has slid into the top view of what we do in our community. So a bit of a course correction. It is about time with Jesus. Time in God's Word. A fulfilling devotional life. An expanded prayer life. A hunger for worship time.Time to chart the course of what He is doing in our lives. Time to grapple with the question of IMITABLE LIFE. Who am I imitating?

It only matters if I am following Jesus, becoming more like Him. It is an awareness that my connections, my friends, my neighbors seek to live like me, because I am pointing them to Jesus.

Then I think of all my failures, how I disappoint others and the well-known faults that I know about myself. It is too overwhelming to think of all the ways I miss the mark in any given day. But, my framework is to be a lifelong learner of Jesus. Disciple- Greek Mathetes- orients my life differently. It places me smack dab in a community where we are learning together this practice of apprenticeship to Jesus. We talk alot about practices at Visual Faith® Minsitry. These practices are an investment of time, energy, skills and life as we learn from others and teach others along the way. Am I movable? Being shaped to Abide with Jesus?

Wherever you are in your story, we hope that you hear the invitation to a journey. Join us for something new this year. Try out the one hour Around the Word zoom experience. Sign up for the Faith Legacy project and step into documenting the joy of grace in your life. Come to Community Creative and be encouraged that you have all you need to be IN and WITH others who are following the path. Pray about choosing a LOGOS word for the year. Take your Bible to worship and add sermon notes in the margin.

Make a prayer card and give it to the person you are praying for this week. Wherever the Holy Spirit nudge is for you this week, listen and respond. God has sent you an amazing text message in His Word. What do you do with a text? You respond. May this community at VFM, be a place to share the blessings of following Jesus, imitating Him, as we learn how to do this TOGETHER.