Last Saturday I went for my daily walk and was delighted to find they were having a community dog show at the park. I stopped and watched the “Best Trick” competition and to visit with some of the big dogs along side lines. It was the next contest though, that really caught my eye. They had a “look-a-like” contest to determine which dog and dog owner looked the most alike. It was all in fun and clearly some contestants attempted to accomplish the ‘look’ by dressing up in similar outfits. They dressed their little dog and themselves in tutus and then paraded around the grounds! Another chose outland-ish tie-dye ‘mod’ matching outfits, while another simply had matching UT shirts on. Everyone enjoyed the creativity. But near the end of the line were a few contestants who had no matching outfits, no crazy gimmicks, just themselves and their dogs. And sure enough, you could see it, the similar-ity. One was clearly a dog and one was clearly human, but you could see it in the way they walked, the length of their nose, the type and style of their hair – the unmistakable resem-blance.
I wonder sometimes if we entered a look-a-like contest with the Lord at our side, whether or not others could see any resemblance. Have we gotten creative in ‘dressing up’ in order to ac-complish the ‘look’ of a Christian? Do we show up at church, wear the right clothes, sing the right songs and use the right words, but then go out from here and ‘change out of’ our Christian outfit? Does our walk, word and appearance change enough that if asked, people would say we no longer look anything like our precious Lord? Is our resemblance only one of outer wear? Or have we been changed from the in-side out, totally transformed so the resemblance to our Lord is unmistakable!
Paul wrote “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
They say that dog owners start to resemble their dogs over time. I do not know if that is true, but I do know that we, as Christ followers continue to be transformed to look more and more like Him. “And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being trans-formed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Are you being transformed? Do you look more like Him each day?
We recently sang one of my favorite Wayne Watson songs in church. The chorus is “One Day Jesus will call my name, as days go by I hope I don’t stay the same. I want to grow so close to Him that it’s no big change, on that day when Jesus calls my name.”
Transformation takes work. Be intentional about making changes! May the Spirit be at work within you, changing you from the inside out. May others look at you and see the strong resemblance to your Father. And may that re-semblance draw them close enough that you can share the truth of the gospel with them.
*Photo attributed to http://www.cesar.com
Embracing Life 