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There
are few of us who do not worry about food, clothing, housing,
and things we need in this life. As a result, it is easy to
love money. Hugh Latiner who preached before King Edward VI
is quoted as warning,
Watch Who You Imitate. At first the next verse seems to be a different topic or another issue. But God is continuing to talk about our relationships: love for others, love for God and those we love to imitate. We all imitate someone. He or she may be someone at work, or someone in the church, such as your pastor, a godly friend, your mother or father, or some spiritual leader. Today we call it mentoring, discipleship, or modeling. Many of us do it without realizing it. Most of us need to do it! Baby Christians do it. They come to church and look at other Christians to see how they should act. They model someone. It is usually one of the leaders.
The Holy Spirit calls us to remember our leaders. But not just any leaders. He asks us to remember those leaders who taught us the Word of Truth and who were exceptional Christians. God is calling us to follow someone who has a proven Christian life. This is not just any leader. It is a leader who has taught you the Word. It is a leader whose life has been carefully evaluated over time. That is the meaning of the Greek word for “considering.” Once we find this person, we are supposed to follow them. The Greek word for “follow” is MIMEOMAI which means to “imitate” or “mimic.” One day I was listening to a man teaching Philippians 3:17. He warned his listeners to not follow several people in his congregation. He explained that the apostle Paul did not mean that they should follow him but Jesus. At that point the teacher went on to say that we should not follow anyone but Jesus. Now that sounds spiritual but, my friend, that is not biblical. Both the apostle and the Holy Spirit in Hebrews said that we are to follow someone. We are to follow someone's faith! We are to follow someone's life to encourage our own spiritual walk and faith.
Conclusion. Babies learn to walk by mimicing mommy and daddy. A baby Christian learns to live a life of faith by following another Christian. The only question is how good is the model? If someone mimic, you or if you mimic someone else, how good is the copy going to be? In the British Museum, there is a Greek writing tablet on display. Its date of origin is earlier than the Christian era and is the equivalent of a child’s writing tablet. A headline has been written on it at the top by a master. The student was then asked to write the second line by attempting to trace the master’s line. Each following line was reproduced by copying the previous one. Each new line is worse and worse. Each new line differed more and more from the master’s line. That is happening in the church. Often the person we are following is not someone we should follow. Hebrews 13:1-7 gives us a pattern for selecting someone to follow. All of us are following; the question is whom are you following? God wants to follow a leader who has taught the Bible. Does he or she know their Bible or only know about the Bible? Now that eliminates many people. The person must also be someone whom you have carefully evaluated. Does he or she model love for strangers, prisoners, and the brethren? Has he or she been a faithful spouse and depends on God to meet their needs? Does he or she have great faith? Great faith is obedient and is willing to suffer for Jesus. Come and imitate a man or woman of great faith and become a Christian whose faith is focused on Jesus! 
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