You Look Like Your Daddy

My grandpa called and wanted to buy 100 of the "Just Like My Daddy" books. He is convinced that everyone in the whole world will want to read them. Perhaps it's because the book uses his son, grandson, and great-grandson as illustrations in every chapter. He had only one request, and no it had nothing to do with fixing typos. He wanted me to add one more chapter on the following subject. If anyone would like to proofread this and copy/paste it in a email to me @ centralbaptistocala@gmail.com I would be grateful.

You Look Like Your Dad

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

As a little boy growing up in the small town Sullivan, Missouri, I heard it a lot. In the grocery store, at the state park, at church, wherever I went people would say, “You must be a Lahmann?” At the age of of nine I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult. However, now that I'm almost thirty I am very proud to be a Lahmann. People would also say, “I don't know who your momma is, but I know who your daddy is.” It seemed that everywhere I went in that town people knew me before I knew them. They didn't necessarily know me personally, but they could see my family resemblance before I ever got close enough to shake their hand. It's funny people do the same thing with my son. The day he was born, which was fourteen days late, he came out ten pounds two ounces. The doctors said, “We know who this kid belongs to.” It was obvious he was already taking after his two hundred and fifty pound father. I put on a few pounds during the pregnancy. His resemblance is still being argued but because of his size and his bald head, people automatically say, “He looks just like his dad.” He is a Lahmann there is no doubt about it.

In the Bible, Jesus identifies the father of the Pharisees by their resemblance. The way they act has told the world who their father was. Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. The Bible tells us we can see who a person belongs to by what they produce in their life. The Pharisees were rightly identified as children of the Devil because of their lying, deceptive, sinful lifestyle. They looked good outwardly but inwardly they were sinful. Their hearts were full of sin, but they were counting on their good deeds to gain them favor with God. No one has ever gained favor with God by doing something. Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Every man is born resembling the devil. We are all born bent toward sinning. Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

We all need to be adopted into God's family in order to begin to resemble God and not the devil. Without the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins from God, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we have no hope of ever resembling God. However, when we are saved, God adopts us into his family and empowers us with his Holy Spirit. Then he gives us spiritual blessings, according to Ephesians 1:3, that enable us to begin to look like him. Phlippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: When a person is saved they now have God's power and help to live a life free from sin and the ability to live and look like their new Father.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

There is this little smirk that Elijah makes and every time he does it, I laugh. It's a little grin he does when he is sort of embarrassed, but wanting to laugh and smile at the same time. He holds his lips tightly together, looks up at you out of the corner of his eyes and slightly smiles. It reminds my of my dad every time. There is no denying it, he looks like a Lahmann. But Christian, we look like our family. We say we are saved. We tell people that we believe Jesus Christ makes a real difference in our life, but then why do we not want to act like him? Why are we so drawn to look and act like the unsaved who are simply emulating their father. If you are saved, you have the great privilege of resembling your Father today.