"Be Like Mike"

"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believer, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." I Tim 4:12

Some years ago, Nike had a slogan that encouraged kids to be like Michael Jordan. What they wanted from this ad campaign was more sales of the shoes that Michael wore - not that he was such a good role model. From that kids began to look up to those pro athletes and pattern their games and lives after them. I guess we all have someone that we look up to, but why not make it someone that has a positive influence. Not to say that some of these are not positive influences, but how many people do you know that want to be like Paul, the Apostle? Someone who is willing and anxious to do anything that God wants him to do and go anywhere that God wants him to go. Or, when is that the last time that you heard someone say that they patterned their life after Peter. Oh, he may be a little impetuous at times and would find himself in a fix, but still his love for God and the lost in the world made him a servant worthy of our consideration. I don't know anyone at this time who would be like Abraham and just pick up everything to follow God, not knowing where he was going. Obviously, if we are going to pattern our life after someone, it needs to be like Jesus. I know that we can never be perfect and sinless as He was. But, we can pray "not my will but thine be done" as He did. We can strive to live the kind of life where others can see Christ in us. By the way, are we living a life such that someone might say "I want to be like...?"