Persons to Emulate

There are so many wonderful persons we can emulate - to strive to live lives of character as they did. Of course, first and foremost, we should strive to be like Christ; but the Bible gives us details on the lives of persons whose lives are worth noting. Two that I have thought about lately are Josiah and Paul.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. Can you imagine becoming king or queen when you were that age? The Bible says, "He did right in the sight of the LORD...and did not turn aside to the right or to the left." (2 Chron. 34:2) This passage also tells us that when he was sixteen ("in the eighth year of his reign"), he began to seek God and to purge Judah of things that were dishonoring to God. Josiah went on to do many wonderful things to serve and glorify God. There was no king like Josiah.

We all know about Paul. He went from be a Jew among Jews - of a distinguished family, highly educated, without fault as far as the law was concerned and zealous in persecuting Christians. Once he met Jesus though, he turned from these things and no longer considered them of any value or consequence. As zealous as he had been in persecuting Christians, he was now even more zealous in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was willing to lay down his very life for the cause of Christ. He recognized that apart from Christ he was absolutely nothing and counted everything, except his relationship with Jesus Christ, to be of no consequence ("rubbish"). (Read Philippians to learn more about Paul.) Oh, to be more like Paul. Would there be a world full of lost persons today if we were more like Paul?

Today is a good day for reflection.