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In my last greeting, I mentioned that I thought the way to become a person after God's own heart is to "imprint" on God as our Father. As you may recall, I used the example of our baby ducklings and the way they follow us everywhere we go. I promised I would share my thoughts in more detail and I appreciate all the help and input I have received from those who have shared their feedback with me.
First, here is a definition of imprinting that I like: A kind of associative learning in which an animal rapidly learns during a particular critical period to recognize an object, individual, or location in the absence of overt reward; distinguished from most other associative learning in that it is retained indefinitely, being difficult or impossible to reverse. Source: Keeton, W.T. and J.L. Gould. 'Biological Science (4th Edition)'. W.W. Norton & Co Ltd. New York. 1986.
When we imprint on God as our Father, He becomes our leader and we become His follower. We look to Him for our sustenance, protection and guidance, trusting that because He is in control of all creation, He will deliver us safely through this life and usher us into eternity by His side exactly as he promises in the Bible. Our decision is a permanent choice, and, once adopted into God's family, it is irreversible, our salvation cannot be lost. (John 10:28-30)
The process of imprinting on God as our Father is rather simple: We acknowledge our sinfulness (Romans 3:10-12, 20, 23), we acknowledge the penalty of sin (Romans 6:23), we acknowledge our need and desire to change (John 3:3), we acknowledge God's provision for the penalty of our sin is Christ alone (John 14:6), we confess our sin, believe in and accept Christ's payment for it (1 John 1:8-10, Romans 10:9-11), and we begin to follow God's way instead of our own (2 Corinthians 5:15)...in three words, our salvation (imprinting on God) comes from admitting, confessing, and believing that we need a savior, that Christ is our only savior, and surrendering to His Lordship over our life (Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 Corinthians 19-20)
Once we have imprinted on God as our Father, we are different; though we continue to live in this world, we are no longer of this world. We begin to become a person after God's own heart!
Our lives begin to change (sometimes immediately, sometimes over the course of time) as we continually surrender our will to God's will and progressively follow Him and His ways rather than our own. We begin to surrender our thoughts to God (2 Corinthians 10:5), our words to God (Luke 6:45) and our lives to God, until one day we will become like Christ Himself (Romans 8:29, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 John 3:1-3)
So, all this rhetoric begs the question, "Am I a person after God's own heart?" How about you?
In hopes that I am or will become so, I memorized this little poem and I recite it often:
Redeemer, Restorer, Sustainer and Friend,
With you as my Lord, Jesus, death brings no end;
This life you gave me I give back to you,
May I bring you honor, O God,
In all that I think and say and do!
In hopes that we all become men and women, boys and girls, after God's own heart,
Carpe Diem for Christ!
Mark Halla
Steward
The Mustard Seed Landscaping & Garden Centers
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