Good evening brethren and Happy Sabbath!  Last week's memory verse was 1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV), "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." Read below to see if it might come to pass that you can guess this week's memory verse!

The perfect model

Have you ever looked for the perfect model for something?  I'm not talking about high fashion and catwalks, but rather a specific configuration of something you were interested in.  Maybe it's a new car.  The base model has all the features you want except leather seats and a sun roof.  The top end model has that, but also has a lot of other things you don't need or want to pay for.  If only there was the perfect model right in the middle to suit all our needs!

Or maybe it's a house.  Perhaps you are praying to find a house in a certain place, but none of the ones available have the 3 bedrooms you need.  Or perhaps they do, but the kitchen is old and in need of updating.  If only the perfect model was available!

A Biblical model

I think we can all identify with trying to find the perfect model of a thing.  But what about a spiritual matter?  Do we ever look through our Bibles, searching for a perfect model to teach us to do something?

I'm sure we all have.  And while the perfect model in all aspects - Jesus Christ - is there, sometimes it can be daunting to try to imitate Him in every way.  Fortunately, God saw fit to give us the gospels in the New Testament that chronicle most of Jesus' adult life, enabling us to share many of the experiences that His disciples did.  

Never Stop Learning

While we can't be a perfect imitator of Christ in every way, we can see where He modeled specific things for us to learn from - forgiveness, humility and even prayer!

When we see a need to grow in a certain area, don't be afraid to ask God for help - the disciples did!  Get down on your knees and ask, "Lord, teach me to..." and await His answer to your prayer!