In Sync

“Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2, New English Translation).

Sync — short for synchronize: to set two things to the same time or value, or to update a database shared by two devices (urbandictionary.com).

To live in this digital age, we often find it necessary to sync our various electronic devices. I wear a fitness tracker; and when I go to the app on my phone, it tells me it is “syncing and refreshing.” Soon my cell phone shows the same information as my tracker. My laptop backs up my files to the cloud, which provides an exact duplicate of what I’ve done. That’s important in case my computer crashes. I can then restore everything.

How to Sync Spiritually

With all this syncing going on in life, wouldn’t it be great if we had something that could sync us with God. This would allow us to think like Him, act like Him, love like Him—you get the idea. We need to be completely like Him in our lives—totally in sync. And sometimes that’s not easy. We fail. But there is a way.

Second Corinthians 3:18 speaks of being “changed into the same image” as the Lord. But how do we take on His characteristics and allow this transformation to happen? The end of verse 18 tells us “even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” We are transformed when we allow God’s Spirit to control our lives.

When our heart beats in sync with God’s heart, things important to Him become important to us. We love what He loves; we hate what He hates. Our thoughts and actions will reflect His Spirit living and working in our life. No longer is it all about us—our goals, our ambitions, our desires. We are in sync so our values mirror His. We have His mind.

“But we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16, NET).

Taking on His Image

As a child of God, we leave our old sinful nature behind and take on His image. We are synchronized with Him. Nothing is more wonderful than that.

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him” (Colossians 3:10, New Living Translation).

Prayer: Dear Lord, my desire is to become more and more like You. To think like You, to act like you, to love like You. Transform me through the power of Your Spirit so I will take on Your image and mirror Your characteristics.