1 John 3:1-24

Like Him

When I was a Youth Pastor back in the early 80’s we used to have the group sit in a circle and we would sing a little song around the group. Let’s say the first three were Jackie, John, and David. The song would go like this:

Jackie, Jesus loves you.

John, Jesus cares.

David, God has a plan for your life

and you know He’ll always be there.

We would go all the way around and sometimes we would go around a second time and different people would have their name appear in different lines. It didn’t really matter whose name appeared in which line because all of the lines applied to all of us.

God has a plan for your life. Do you know what it is? I do. I know what His plan is for me AND I know what His plan is for you. Here is a clue. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

God’s plan is to make you become like Jesus. It doesn’t matter if your name is Jackie, John, David, Ronnie, or Muhammed. He wants everyone to come to Him through His Son and His plan is to transform us into Jesus’ image. Paul says the same thing in Romans 8:29. “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” 

I don’t know what God’s short term goal is for you. I don’t know the exact path He wants you to walk nor the method He is using to change you. That puts me in mind of an old song the church sang when I was a kid. 

Some through the fire,

Some through the flood,

Some through great sorrow,

But all through the blood.

You will still retain your identity and your uniqueness, and so will I. But we will all be like Him. Now won’t that be something to see?