I Want to Be Like Jesus - A Hymn

I have one deep, supreme desire,
that I may be like Jesus.
To this I fervently aspire,
that I may be like Jesus.
I want my heart His throne to be,
so that a watching world may see
His likeness shining forth in me.
I want to be like Jesus.

He spent His life in doing good;
I want to be like Jesus.
In lowly paths of service trod;
I want to be like Jesus.
He sympathized with hearts distressed,
He spoke the words that cheered and blessed,
He welcomed sinners to His breast.
I want to be like Jesus.

A holy, harmless life He led;
I want to be like Jesus.
The Father's will, His drink and bread;
I want to be like Jesus.
And when at last He comes to die,
"Forgive them, Father," hear Him cry
for those who taunt and crucify.
I want to be like Jesus.

O perfect life of Christ, my Lord!
I want to be like Jesus.
My recompense and my reward,
that I may be like Jesus.
His Spirit fill my hungering soul,
His power all my life control.
My deepest prayer, my highest goal,
that I may be like Jesus.

Text: Thomas O. Chisholm
Music: David Livingstone Ives

The Character of Christ (14): Filled with/devoted to the word

Yet again as we look closely at the life of Christ as a man on the earth, we see He was constantly filled with the word of God, we see His devotion to the word, His love for the word. He is the Word of Life as Apostle John tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1) and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Throughout His life here on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ was committed to the word of God, studied it and lived by it.

Right from a very young age, He loved the word of God as He stayed back in Jerusalem listening to the Rabbis and asking them questions, not bothered about food or missing His family (Luke 2:42-47). In Luke 4:16, we see that it was His custom to read the word when He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Also, He was devoted in teaching and expounding the scriptures to His disciples. Even after His death and resurrection when He met the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, Mathew 24:27 records that, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all Scriptures the things concerning Himself”. He could do this because He knew the word, He was filled with it; He was the word personified. And so, having taught them all thoroughly, He could say to the Father, “I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them” (John 17:8, John 17:14).

Also, it was because He was filled with the word that He was able to resist the devil when He was tempted three times in the wilderness as recorded in Matthew 4. The first time, He quoted Deut. 8:3, then the second time He quoted Deut. 6:16, and the third time He quoted Deut. 6:13. He knew the word, He was the word and He used it to fight against the devil and to overcome temptation. Now, if Jesus, who was God in flesh needed the word, which is the sword of the Spirit, to overcome the temptation of the devil, how much more we?

Furthermore, whenever the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Herodians or Sadducees came questioning Him, in their attempts to undermine Him as we see in Mark 7 and 12, He could answer them because He was filled with the word. The word also kept Him from going against what pleased the Father, as it is written, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps 119:11). He was the word incarnate. He walked according to scriptures every step of the way. His life became the visible evidence of the invisible word of God. He obeyed God’s word even when obedience meant suffering. And He died according to what was written in the word of God concerning Him. Living by the word of God was His lifestyle in a world that was contrary.

Friends, let us examine ourselves. Do you give priority of time and attention to studying and meditating on the word? Do you delight in seeking after the word of God and hiding it in your heart? Do you care at all about teaching and sharing the word? Are you devoted to the word of God? Are you committed to obeying the word of God and living by it? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. (Col 3:16) Oh Lord, transform us into your likeness, help us to be filled with the word and devoted to the word like you!