It is an enormous celebration, but many people have never heard about it. “Hemingway Days,” as it is known, is a week-long celebration in Key West, Florida, in which writers, fisherman, and fans of the famous Ernest Hemingway gather to honor his legacy. And one of the highlights of the festival is the Hemingway lookalike contest, in which dozens of older men with frosted beards compete against one another for the prize of resembling the great American writer. The contest is held at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, and it is so momentous that it occupies three whole days of the festival! And according to the Associated Press, a winner is chosen on the anniversary of Hemingway’s birthday, which is July 21st.
It must be a great honor to look like the renowned Hemingway, but it is a far greater honor to look like the Author of Salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. And while it is not a contest between believers to see who looks the most like Jesus, looking like Christ is every believer’s ultimate conquest. God’s plan for His people is that they be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29b). Moreover, the Holy Spirit is always shaping and molding all true believers, with the goal of helping them resemble Jesus. As Paul said, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).
It is through this transformation process that believers may be fully assured that they have been saved by God’s grace. Everyone who truly knows Christ will look like Him: “But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:5-6). Such Christlikeness primarily entails following the example of Jesus in our thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions (John 13:15). Simultaneously, looking like Christ also means looking less like our old selves and less like the world around us. That is why Paul commanded, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2a).
And the process of becoming like Christ will be completed one glorious day (Phil. 1:6). But it won’t happen in this life; it will happen on the Last Day when Christ comes again. As John assured, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Until then, all believers must resolve to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus until all the world bows before His feet (Phil. 2:9-11).
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:
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