[Manna - February 10]
Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12
EVERY Christian should strive to be a pattern
worthy of imitation—a pattern of earnest, faithful endeavor
to copy Christ in his daily life, and of active
zeal in His service.
Patterns of perfection, of the ultimate
moral glory and beauty of holiness, we cannot
expect to be in the present life.
Such a pattern we
have only in Christ our Lord.
In no such sense did
Paul ever say, Follow me, or Follow us; but he did
say, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of
Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)
The apostle was a grand
example
of earnest endeavor to attain perfection, but
not of the ultimate perfection which was in Christ
only; and it is his zeal and intense earnestness in
striving to copy Christ and to accomplish His will that
we should imitate. Z.'95-251 R1886:1