Copy people who copy Jesus 

We learn how to do all the important things in life by copying others.  We copy how others eat their food, tie their shoe laces, write with pencils, plait ponytails, kick footballs, shoot netballs, drive cars, and do brain surgery.  It is no different in becoming more like Jesus.  To become more like Jesus we need to copy him (that is why reading the gospels is so important).  But sometimes we need some help to translate what Jesus did in his day to what we might do in our day.  That is why it can be really helpful to copy people who copy Jesus.

Hint: This isn't about become clones of other people.  In reaction to being clones we have swung to far the other way and we just want to jump in  and do things our own way from the start.  That doesn't work with brain surgery and it doesn't work great with following Jesus.  What we need is balance.  We need imitation AND innovation.  We need to spend time imitating people we want to learn from so we get to experience what it is like to do it the way they do it.  We can then innovate from a position of experience.

For example if we want to develop a close relationship with God our Father, just like Jesus had, it can be helpful to learn from and copy people who we think have a close relationship with God.  One of the people who I think had a close relationship with God AND did a great job of copying Jesus was Dallas Willard.  

Now most of us know that it is important to have a 'quiet time' with God on a regular basis, but for many of us it can be a challenge.  Now if that is you, and even if it isn't, you might like to consider copying Dallas Willard's personal devotional practices as described in this short video:

"Dallas' Daily Practices?" by Dallas Willard from Tree of Life Community on Vimeo.