“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).

I think we all joke about how terrible driver’s license photos are. I’m not sure how they can be used as identification since they seem to have so little resemblance to how we actually look. As I headed to the state office to renew my license, I wasn’t too excited about that part of the process—the photo! (I usually look 20 pounds heavier and slightly criminal.)

When I eventually received my new license in the mail, I was startled. How had my mom’s photo ended up on my license? Then I laughed at my own silliness. Of course, it was my image. And in many ways, hers too. The older I get, the more I look like my mother. I’ve noticed the same thing about friends when I look at their social media pages. More and more they resemble their moms.

There is another much more important family resemblance I hope to show. And that is the image of the Lord. I don’t mean His olive-skinned, dark-haired Jewish appearance; I look quite different in that way. Through the centuries, artists have rendered their ideas of His physical appearance. More recently, a group of British scientists used forensic anthropology to create what they feel is a probable image of His features. None of that interests me as much as becoming like Him in character. When we read Colossians 3:9-10, we learn that when we “put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self” we are taking on His image. When I take on His likeness, my desires change. My words change. My actions change.

The more I become like Christ, the more I respond to others differently. I love more; I offer more mercy; I show more compassion. When I take on His image, others will recognize my parentage without my telling them in words. I will have that “family resemblance.”

I want to be able to say as David in Psalm 17:15, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

Prayer: Lord, my greatest desire is to become more like You every day. I want to live righteously, love extravagantly, and give without restraint. I want others to see Your character shining through me so You may be glorified.

 

Devotion by Mary Loudermilk

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