You can choose who you want to be like. I made up my mind a long time ago to be like Jesus; He is my Mentor. I copy Jesus because He’s the One I want to be like. For example, according to the Law, bodily contact with lepers was forbidden; they were the outcasts of the society because their disease was contagious. But when Jesus came, He touched the lepers and He didn’t become leprous. He touched the unclean and rather than become unclean, it was the unclean that became clean. The teachers of the Law of His day acted contrariwise though; they kept away from lepers and taught the people to do likewise.
In your life, you have to make up your mind who you want to follow - Jesus or the Pharisee. To be a Christian doesn’t mean to walk on your toes. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like, but have you ever asked yourself what a Christ-like attitude is?
A Christ-like attitude is an attitude of dominion over sin and darkness, disease and infirmity. You lay your hands on a sick one and he’s restored to health. This is the life of righteousness! I’m not just talking about the gift of righteousness but the living power that works within and through you as you walk with the Holy Spirit.
You see, people want something more than religion. The Lord Jesus didn’t give us a religion. He came to set the captives free. He came to show us God. He came to show us how to live holy lives. If you don’t walk in the righteousness that we have in Christ Jesus, sicknesses, diseases and infirmities wouldn’t obey you.
The Pharisees had long robes and they practiced religion, but they had no power. Jesus wasn’t a ‘religious’ person but He had power. He broke a lot of the ministerial ethics of His day; not only did He go into sinners’ homes, He even dined with them; He touched the leper and healed him on the Sabbath. What a man He was! I prefer to be like Jesus. What about you?
