Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Ephesians 5:1, 2
The Lord has made it possible for all who have received Him to follow in HIs footsteps. This shows God's truly remarkable grace. As some are overwhelmed at the prospect of following in the footsteps of a father who has accomplished much we should be overwhelmed by the prospect of following in the footsteps of our Heavenly Father who created all things and is holy beyond compare. Yet He has made it possible and wants us to do so!
Notice the word followers in Ephesians 5:1 and the word walk in Ephesians 5:2. When we follow we go forward step by step with another person. In order to walk we must take steps. The Lord is telling us to follow in His footsteps.
We know that this figure of speech is speaking of living our lives as one who has gone before has. How do we live our lives as God does? Notice: One, we are his children. Truly the relationship that is most appropriate for following in another's footsteps is Father and Child. The Bible tells us in John 1:12 that, "But as many received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." If you have received Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are His child. Two, we are His dear children. In other places this word is translated, wellbeloved. We are not despised children, illegitimate children, abandoned children, or beaten children. We are God's children, wellbeloved! God's love for us is more than we can comprehend. We often say to our children, "I love you more than you know." This may be true but this is most certainly true of God's love for us. Notice in Ephesians 5:2, Christ loved us an offered himself for us that we may be a sweetsmelling savour to Him.
With this as our foundation God says, "Walk in love." In order to follow in His footsteps, we must love others as He loves us. When we are mean-spirited or self-serving with our wives we are not following in our God's footsteps. When we treat our children as servants rather than raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, we are not following in our God's footsteps. When we look down upon and are unfriendly to a fellow church member because they have been caught in sin we are not following in our God's footsteps. The list of our steps and missteps as God's children in this world are infinite. The truth that God would have us follow in His steps is overwhelming. Certainly God will have to be merciful to us. He has given numerous promises that He is merciful! (I John 1:9, Lamentations 3:22, 23, Luke 7:39-50, etc.) By God's grace we can walk with Him today!