I saw a funny picture online. As someone who regularly uses a wisecrack to teach what otherwise might be a hard truth, I appreciate the value in using humor to mask a lesson. Anyway, here’s the picture…
It reminds me of the hymn by Chisholm…
Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
On the one hand, what a beautiful summary of the Christian ideology: What we seek is to be like Jesus; all our lives are devoted to the pursuit of His life. But look at those lyrics and tell me it’s a “simple” undertaking. The singer tells God that he would gladly pay any price in order to wear the “perfect likeness” of Jesus. Oh, is that all? Just to be exactly like Jesus, that’s your goal?
It’s like when Phillip said to Jesus “show me the Father and that will be sufficient” (John 14:8). Oh is that all you require, Phillip, just to see the Unseeable? Sure, that’s not asking a lot.
It’s a monumentally daunting undertaking to wake up in the morning and say to yourself “today, I’m going to be exactly like Jesus.” I would probably fail before my feet hit the floor! And yet, the song has it right: That is the undertaking. That is the life. Will we ever achieve “perfect likeness”? I think not. But what a life we could live if we just tried.
Having said that, I spent four years in Higden, Arkansas serving under the legendary Gospel Preacher Carroll Sites. Carroll used to say that people love to talk about doing their best but, in his experience, few ever really did their best, at least not all the time. Most of the time people would “try” their best, but even then it’s not guaranteed. Trying your best all the time is exhausting. It’s a high standard we rarely can maintain 24/7. So Carroll—a man whose virtue and high character I can personally bear witness to—liked to say that he started his day telling himself that he would “try to try” to do his best.
That’s a pretty good life lesson from the former Drill Seargent turned soldier of Christ: Do your best. And when that fails, try again. And when you slip up, try to try to do better. Along the way, you might find yourself acting more and more like Jesus every day.
~ Matthew