Daily Devotional for February 23, 2020
Carrie’s Shadow
Mom, I’m going to bring cookies over to the new neighbors.” Carrie slid the container under her arm. “Dad and I met them yesterday.”
“Okay, honey,” Mom said. Carrie was nearly out the door when Mom suddenly stopped her. “Carrie, would you take Brianna with you?” Carrie frowned, but she took her little cousin’s hand. Mom might want a break, she thought. Brianna was staying with them for a few days while Carrie’s aunt and uncle were away.
As they walked down the street, Brianna looked up at Carrie. Her cousin watched her the whole way. Carrie felt a little uncomfortable but quickly forgot about it when they reached the neighbors’ house.
Carrie greeted the Huangs, who had moved from China. When she said hello, Brianna said hello. When Carrie began to skip on the way home, Brianna skipped too. Carrie raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off.
For the next several days, Brianna wanted to do everything Carrie did. When Carrie put her hair up, so did Brianna. When Carrie wore pink, her little cousin wanted to wear pink too. Brianna followed her around like a little shadow. At first, Carrie didn’t give it much thought, but as Brianna continued to smile, laugh, and act like her, she began to notice.
On the last day of Brianna’s stay, Carrie managed to sneak away and find Mom in the backyard. She knelt down by the flower bed Mom was weeding and told her about Brianna’s behavior. “She keeps doing everything I do, Mom!”
Mom smiled. “It’s because she loves you—that’s why she wants to be like you. Because of your good character, Brianna wants to act the way you act and dress the way you dress.”
“I hadn’t realized that,” Carrie said.
“You know, Brianna reminds me of how we should act,” Mom said as she pulled a weed out of the ground. “Just like Brianna wants to act like you, we should seek to act like Jesus in all that we do. He is our greatest example, and we should imitate Him by showing His love and kindness to others.”
“Yeah,” Carrie replied. “Having Brianna act like me will help me remember I need to be like Jesus because I love Him.” Hope Dougherty
How about you?
Have you ever wanted to be like someone, or has someone wanted to be like you? It’s natural to want to imitate someone we love and look up to. Jesus is the greatest example of how Christians should live. He acted in kindness, obedience, and love when He died on the cross for our sins, and that’s how we should act too. Show your love by imitating Him.
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