Picture Jesus

Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

It was Sunday morning. The sun was coming up over the hills, the air was cool after steamy days. Trees were heavy with moisture from a night time rain. Mist rose from the ground. Birds were up and about and rabbits skittered away at my approach.

"I just took the shower to beat all showers!" young William offered with a big smile on his adorable face as I sat on the rocker outside the main Lodge. "The water was cold," he continued. Not a complaint, just a comment to my "good morning." Then he ran off back to where his family was camping.

I was absolutely amazed with the children last weekend at a church family camping weekend. We were a group of 56 and had the whole site to ourselves. The "tons" of kids were about as well behaved as you could wish. Yes, they ran and played, and were boisterous, but it was a good kind of boisterous.  

These kids showed respect for one another and all adults. Despite the largeness of the campground there was a feeling of safety, like God was hovering over it in protection. It was, after all, a Christian campground. Everyone looked out for one another...especially for the kids. Teenage boys gladly draped the younger kids around their necks as they went from here to there. There was no separation between young and old. It was like a very tight-knit family. That happens when Jesus is center.

Picture Jesus. Not physically but His nature. He held himself high without the pride. He spoke firmly yet in love even in judgment. Yet He could command attention with sternness if need be. He is to be our standard, our role model as it were. He is all things good. 

There's a part of Jesus in each of these children that makes them that way. Their parents raised them well, instilling in them the kind of love Jesus would offer them. These children see things apart from the world view of "me." I'm sure not all the time, but here when they were left to romp and play, that nature could have come forth, but it did not. Jesus is the center of their little lives whether they consciously know it or not. They are learning to be like Jesus. It's implanted deep at a young age. They could grow to be adults who are truly set apart from the world. 

I'm not going to go deep into this subject, but consider our country. We started out God-centered. We were raised well. We were set apart. Little by little God was removed and here are we now...a nation divided, a nation of disunity and unrest. The unity within this group of people over the weekend was delicious! The open-heart attitude shone. Where as a nation have we gone?

There was one twenty year old who drove nearly 300 miles after work Friday night to pick up three small kids from a family in a neighboring state so they could enjoy this weekend...and know what "family" is. We found this young man to have a very big heart for these children and through his interactions with these children, he has realized how his own father feels about him. He's growing to be another good example of Jesus...selfless and caring.

We are all made in the image of God. All the good parts, at least. What are the good parts? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control... (Galatians 5:22-23). Yes, these children frolicked and were noisy, but there was love and joy, kindness and goodness and even some self-control! I looked up the meaning of the word image. It means a likeness, a resemblance. Being made in the image of God is not so much an outward image of God as an inward. Some of us, including myself, still have a lot to learn. 

There was peace and patience at this camping weekend among the parents. They could go about their business without having to constantly watch their kids. They could sit and enjoy each other's company while the children played. They also interacted in games and activities with them. There wasn't a lot of shouting and reprimanding the children. The children respected any adult or parent, not just their own. It truly was like one big family. No whining about something being "mine," children shared with adults, like one boy making a toasted marshmallow for me. He didn't question why, he just did it with a giving spirit. My heart melted, like the marshmallow. This is what we are to be, not just on camping weekends. 

One boy walked up to a little girl eating a S'more. He stood next to her and asked, "Is that yours?" I'm sure she said it was, yet he didn't complain because she didn't share. He just had this sweet, hopefulness that the delectable treat might be offered to him. Again, no whining, no shoving, no grabbing, no taking. Just a curious nature with an attitude of respect.

That was Jesus! We are to take on His attitude and nature. These parents have trained up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). These parents have not allowed the worldview to infiltrate their lives and that will filter down to the children. These families know the heart of God. They live it out and share it. They have instilled a knowledge of Jesus through their own hearts that have been given to Him. They are passing down the legacy. I can honestly say, that was not my upbringing and what I experienced this past weekend was heavenly! This is what the power of Jesus can do in anyone's life.

What legacy do we have to pass down, as a person, a family, our church, even our country? What words of wisdom do we impart to our children? Is it what's important to God or important to us? Is it God's will our the worldview? Do we look like Jesus in our life? We were created in His image. Shouldn't we?

Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.