Cherries and Followers

Cherries.  The perfect snack on a warm summer morning.  I plunged my hand into the bag to pull out a handful...

Squish.

While the rest of my hand gripped the smooth, deep red fruit, my ring finger felt something wet and mushy.  A moldy cherry.  After taking out the rotten fruit, I inspected that corner of the bag.  Quickly, I found 3 more fuzzy cherries.

Moldy fruit always likes to hang out together, right?

We all know that the bag probably contained just one bad cherry to begin with, but that bad cherry affected the fruit immediately surrounding it.  So it is with our friends.  "Bad company ruins good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33b).

On the flip side, there are people and examples that help us grow.  The Apostle Paul boldly stated, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

I've noticed in myself a propensity to follow others.  I want follow and imitate those I admire.

Take a minute to consider who you are following.  Would you be fulfilling God's plan for your life if you became just like your church leaders, celebrity icon, and closest friends?

In all of the "following" I do as a Christian wife and mom, it is easy for me to desire many good things.  I'd love to dress like her, decorate like her, and have hair like her.  I want to look as young as her, have kids like hers, and cook like her.  Do things like this ever consume your mind?  They probably consume the minds and lives of those around you, too.

Most of these things seem harmless, but my bag of cherries helped me to see that I will be influenced by whatever is around me.  I will adopt the values, thoughts, and behaviors of others.

I began to evaluate the things I have been thinking about - how many of those "harmless" things fit into the category of "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" from 1 John 2:16?

I want to surround myself with women who love God's Word, study it, and obey it.  I want to keep close company with women that pray powerfully, respect their husbands, and raise children with wisdom and virtue.  I want to spend my days with women that think little of themselves and seek to show the grace and beauty of God.  Humble, loving women are the women I want to imitate because they are imitating Christ.

This may cause a shift in position.  I may need to move to another section of the cherry bag to keep from becoming what I ought not to become.  You may need to move, too.  May Jesus be honored as we seek to imitate Him.