“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-15a).
Tradition has always been a big part of how the church does what it does. We do imitate someone as we move through life. The question is, are we imitating the right things, or should I say, the right one? Paul encourages us to imitate the church at ground zero, that is, the church which adapted what was done when Jesus walked the earth. Remember, Jesus did not come to do away with, but fulfil what had been established.
Lord, let me neither shun all tradition, nor see tradition be my all in all, but let me not try to reinvent things so that I do nothing. Guide me in Your goodness in order that I would hold fast to the truth You have revealed once for all. Lead me in Your grace and mercy to do what is right always and imitate those things which are good. Show me what is good so that I may imitate it.
Lord Jesus, You said that only the Father is good, but You and the Father are One. Lead me to imitate the goodness You demonstrated so that I may learn from You what is right behavior. Guide me, O Lord, in the way of truth and help me to learn to respect how things have been done by others. Through all of this life, lead me in the upward way so that I may ultimately imitate You in order to become like You. Amen.
