This piece was written in the spring of 2010. Grandma Nell is now nearing death’s door at the age of 83, Will is 9 and Jake, 6 years old , as of this past May. He is growing and maturing into the little guy God is shaping him to be. He still loves to shadow Will, desiring to partner with him, now that he is the ripe ole age of 6, in putting the Legos together. Oh, how I desire to shadow my Heavenly father, reflecting Him to a lost world.
We were on a trip with our daughters and six grandchildren, all ranging in age from 7 down to 11 months. Can we say busy? The trip wore our daughters out. We all met in Oklahoma City to visit my mother-in-law, their Grandma Nell. Her health had been declining and she had recently sold her home to move into a nursing facility. The girls had two purposes for their visit; first they wanted Nell to have time with her great-grand children, and second, the girls wanted to go through her things and find one or two items that were meaningful to them, only at Grandma Nell’s request of course.
During the visit, I began to observe our oldest grandson, as he, his siblings and cousins swam and played each day in the pool. Will, the oldest, had a shadow the entire week- Jake, who was four. Jake never left Will’s side, except at night when they slept in separate beds. Everything Will did, Jake would try to imitate. Sometimes he was successful and at other times, he was not. You see, Will is taller, stronger, bigger and more mature. But Jake wanted desperately to appear to be 7 and do everything his cousin did. Will was very patient with Jake as the little guy followed him around. As I watched Jake’s desperate efforts to imitate Will, I thought about the verse in Ephesians 5:1 that says, “Be imitators of Christ, as beloved children…” I found myself wondering, do I try to imitate Christ as intently as Jake was trying to imitate his older cousin?
The story of Samuel and Eli in 1 Samuel came to mind. Don’t you know Samuel was Eli’s little shadow, desiring to do everything he did? Day after day Samuel was watching and observing Eli as he worshipped and performed his priestly duties, wanting to be just like him. In 1 Samuel 2:18 we see Samuel as a boy, “Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord as a boy, wearing an ephod.” In 1 Samuel 3:19 we see God calling Samuel to fulfill the position of priest, “Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail.” Samuel had matured to the age of responsibility and God found him ready to handle the position of priest.
By the end of the week, our girls had nicknamed Jake- the shadow. Everywhere Will went, Jake went. Everything Will did, Jake desired to do. He followed his cousin constantly. I can just see Samuel as a little guy following Eli around the temple wanting to do everything he did, imitating his every move. Before long, Jake will be 7, but for now he is a little four year old desperately trying to imitate his older cousin. One day he, too, will be able to do a jack-knife off the diving board!
Father, I want to be an imitator of You. The desire of my heart is to be just like You, as Jake desired to be just like Will and Samuel like Eli. I do not want to leave your side, as Jake never left Will’s side and Samuel never left Eli’s. I want to look just like You.
Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our own image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.”
dianne