imitations.

"Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God' whoever does evil has not seen God." ~ 3 John, verse 11

Some translations use the word "follow" instead of "imitate". I like the word "imitate" better. I gives us a clearer picture of what John is talking about here.

We are all imitators of something.

We are who we are because God created us to be exactly who we are, but also because we are influenced by the culture we are raised up in.

In this case, we imitate what we have been taught by our parents.

For example, when you hang out with someone a lot, you begin to use a lot of the same language as they do. This is the "imitation" that I'm talking about here.

So the hypothesis is this: if we are going to end up imitating something or someone, then who are we gonna choose to imitate?

God or the evil one? you have a choice.

You know, your friends will begin to imitate you, if you let them.

So, choose.

I hope it's not a hard choice. For me it is as simple as 1 Corinthians 1:11:

"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."