The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game

3/19/18

Sometimes being imitated can be a good thing, with a scene or setting being played over coming from another person’s historical interpretations.  When it comes to the lives of God’s children all seriousness is present in a vivid picture with foundations serving as the hold to which we build upon.  How many times do we become focused on non-essential items that define our lives instead of keeping our eyes on the one true source of our existence?  Far too often do we hear about eternal tragedies yet do nothing to return to our true roots thus leaving out the one Being that can help us turn our lives and nation around.  We cannot afford to follow such imitated words from finite competitors or from our eternal enemy, it is time we shed off the world, take eternal responsibility for our actions and return to God as He meant for us to live.

As I have increased in age, my desires to travel the world have remained within my heart but the capability and the time allowed for such adventures have passed me by for the most part.  With all of the cultural upheavals presently occurring, the thoughts of travelling again to some of the areas that my feet have planted on has been shaken quite a bit but it still has not tamed the desires of my heart especially if I have the opportunity to share the Gospel of Christ to those who wish to listen.  My father and mother have made numerous trips to El Salvador and have had quite the glorious experiences while they were in this beautiful country, I have only been once and while I was there I fell in love with the people of that torn nation.  It was just my father and me on this trip and it was going to be a fabulous week or so I thought.  We were on a fact-finding mission on this trip and we were supposed to be with a missionary and his wife while we were there but for some circumstantial evidence later revealed our goals were not met due to interference beyond our control.

One morning the missionary was going to be late picking us up because he had another “meeting” to attend so that meant that dad and I were on our own for breakfast.  Now, being a young adult I saw no problem with eating at major fast food chains but being a more experienced adult my father did not care for that type of food but when you are in a country that you do not speak the language and are not familiar with the surroundings, the old saying about doing things the Roman way becomes real.  Just so happens that we find a McDonalds a few blocks away from our hotel and we decided that we would eat a late breakfast/early lunch type meal and take our chances with other choices of food later if needed.  As soon as we walked in the door it was obvious that the food was the same as in the States and it eased our minds a tad.  When it came time to order our drinks the fresh squeezed orange juice sign caught both of our attention so we ordered according to what our eyes “liked”.  Now, I must say that God has blessed this heart of mine for my entire life and there have been only a few times in my entire existence that I have actually been hungry, never starving but hungry; this was not one of them.

When the signs in this country say “fresh squeezed” they usually mean fresh squeezed but from another town and processing plant from another week or so previous and that was what I was expecting to taste when I took my first sip of orange juice.  Well, sir, what was put into my mouth was pure heaven and to this day I have never tasted orange juice so sweet and delicious as what I had at McDonald's in San Salvador, El Salvador.  When they meant fresh squeezed they were not lying one bit and as I was staring at dad’s cup I wanted to ask for his but I already knew what that answer would be so I did not even ask.  I would have never imagined finding such quality from another country but it opened my eyes a bit further concerning other people and their cultures and how they live.  This experience also defined what an imitation product is and how it is sold in this nation as common and normal.  I still do not frequent fast food restaurants much and I probably will not start either, but that day’s drink shall forever stand out.  Something that s fresh and true cannot be preserved in any way for it takes the truth out of its quality if preserved.  Think about that statement for a moment and when we understand it the ways of the devil will become more known and easier to defend against.

What I had always been accustomed to in this specific category I had learned was not the real product that I had been exposed to all of my previous years.  Not that I was/am complaining about my experiences but until I had experienced the truth about fresh quality of what God has provided, I was satisfied with the “fresh squeezed” imitation game that was being plastered over my taste buds.  As stated above I am not complaining in any manner, for I am so appreciative of what God has allowed me to drink and eat but my eyes were opened in a small country that I was not familiar with at all and through this experience I have to look at things on this level in a different way.  While this may seem a tad petty to some it is a point that we need to understand because when something comes your way and is passed off as the truth we really need to know how to ascertain if what has been presented or not really is the truth or if it is an imitation, and this is the point that God wants us to understand.

Almost every day we see news headlines of some type of tragedy that occurs to humanity and it does not matter what any factor is involved either, for all are included in such activities.  Many times we see that young lives are snuffed out by other human hands and minds but it seems like we have not found the answers to end such atrocities.  The methods that we try and implement do not seem to work and only add to the confusion and the problems.  We shall never come to a good conclusion if we do not resort back to our original status of existence and find out how to live under those conditions again.  With every new law that is passed to “help” our societies cope and end violence against others, there will be 20 ways to break, violate, or to get around those laws, that is how the mind works and until the mind is changed towards a different way, the pattern that is in place shall continue.  The example that we need to heed to occurs in the Bible and while each chapter gives us this truth only a few will be dealt with here; Psalms 34:8, Genesis Chapter 2 and Jeremiah 1:5.

There is no argument that God created mankind from the ground which does not directly refer to Adam and Eve with the wonderful verse of Jeremiah 1:5 but in reality it does because God had already known about Adam and Eve’s existence before He created them from the ground which means that even though our starting point is a bit different from Adam and Eve’s we are all known before we are born.  I sometimes dream and daydream about what it would be like not to have a problem physically and that every time I set out to solve an issue that I would come up with the perfect solution that was never incorrect.  What a feeling it would be not to have to poke my finger for a blood sugar level or to have to make an appointment to see my doctor or even to redraw a patient because of a faulty specimen tube.  Genesis Chapter 2 gives us a picture of such perfect and pure conditions for both personal gain and living conditions; a pure cup of orange juice from El Salvador in other words. 

It is through this fall of mankind that Satan has his foothold in our lives and thus we become subject to false teachings that we deem as truth.  This imitation game that Satan used in the Garden of Eden still has lingering and active consequences in our lives today, even though we have no idea about what it means to live in a perfect state that option can still be pursued if we listen to God and obey His Ways according to what is written in His Word.  If Adam and Eve would have not fallen for the imitation process things would be totally different but since they did it is imperative we understand and then proclaim God’s Truth to ourselves and to others as God and His Son have spoken for us to do.  When our eyes become focused on the surroundings it shall be easy to become lost and fooled by the world’s imitation.  It does not matter what the subject might represent, if our eyes are not on the Word and have it first in our lives then ALL around us is an imitation.

There is no doubt that God told Adam and Eve of their importance to His Kingdom and that their lives could not mean more to anyone else.  They were not mass produced on some assembly line created exactly as another without care and consideration for individuality and specificity.  We are not imitation vanilla which looks good and tastes good but when compared to the original and properly created product cannot compare to such a low-level procedure.  Any product that is specifically created from pure elements cannot be considered mass produced or imitated in any way and the cost of such creation is well listed on the expensive side and takes up a considerable amount of time in order for the right combination to blend together properly.

If something does not come from God then it cannot be a good thing for our lives.  God was the Creator of each and every one of us and it is this beginning that He placed us together from nothing.  It is this aspect alone that deems it so important for us to understand what God meant when He created us and why He created us and the only true source for this understanding comes from His Word and His voice. We have an excellent biblical example of this difference between God and the world in Psalms 34:8 and it goes like this: “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”  Does this verse tell us that the world is good?  No, it tells us that God is good and if God is good then the world cannot be.

Now, we know that if God is good and His definition completes the word good, then all things that are considered good must be subject and measured on this standard.  If the item in question does not measure up to the standard of God then it cannot be deemed as good but only as a fraud and in this case an imitation.  God’s Word does not say that God is good to play on some ego trip but to serve as the foundation for our lives, it is not a safe bet to count on the world for our strength for the world varies in stature as each second passes; therefore, God is the only constant standard and good representative that one can abide in and turn to when needed.  How many of you understand that this imitation game that our enemy plays is spiritually legal?  From the looks of the state of the Church, not many people know this truth which is a death march to those who do not understand for you have no defense against such attacks from the enemy and eventually you will fall just as Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden.  The dulling of our spiritual sense is one of the major and common ways that Satan gets a foothold in our lives and once he has established this access he has free reign as long as we allow his presence. 

The perfect example of not following the warnings of God and His Word comes in the Garden of Eden for look at what occurred to Adam and Eve when they believed a cunning tongue and the goodness from the fruitful surroundings, their reality of perfection was lost to an imitation that looked better and felt good at the moment because during the act itself no mention of sorrow or doubt was spoken.  There is no doubt whatsoever that our enemy loves to confuse us about the Truth and what is considered to be truth.  Your life is eternally precious to God in such a fashion that it cannot be accurately measured yet we live through a spiritual monetary lie because we give ourselves away without restraint to the world which demands its pence.  God established this purity and priceless creation in the Garden of Eden and our value has not been changed ever since that glorious day, but we continue to listen to and then accept the imitational lies from our enemy that contradict God.  The world’s lies are cheap and are not worthy of our consumption and the sad portion of the acceptance of these lies is that when they come full circle they are not forgiving one bit and we are left devastated.

God wants us to live under the words of Psalms 34:8 for that verse proclaims that we have a longing and a desire to know God and His Ways.  This verse also teaches us that if we do not have a desire to live under this verse that we will know the difference and will seek to change our lives for the better.  We all have fallen for the imitation game in some portion or area of our lives but it is wonderful to know that we have an escape plan from this lie.  God did not create us just to leave us hanging in the wind but He has given us a way to restore our lives back to perfection in His eyes.  Jesus was a pure and holy sacrificial lamb that provides us with this eternal purpose.  In no way did Jesus succumb to the temptations of this life and this world for He understood what He was supposed to complete for His Father for our lives.

It is for this purpose that we hear every word that God gives us and to heed that word every single day.  The Bible is this Word, our eternal Word that will show us the true path of peace, humility, and perfection if we only obey its contents.  Church, we have done a lousy job at listening to the voice of God, studying His Word and most importantly telling others about His True Love for us.  The world is not included in such teachings it cannot be for it is vile and represents everything that goes against God.  The world and all of its physical excitement will lead to only trouble if it is allowed to infiltrate your heart, and don’t be fooled for just a little bit of the world’s belief in your life will fulfill itself just read about Adam and Eve.  Repent, Church and come back to God so that we may once again be pure in His eyes and be able to teach the dying world that there is a way to solve our issues and heal each and every one of our hurts.  In short, the world plays an imitation game because that is what its ruler is an imitator, God is the only way to eternal rest and perfection.

DLB