A number of years ago, I spent some time in Indonesia. I loved my time there and grew to deeply love the Indonesian people.

Part of the excitement of traveling internationally is the new experiences. While driving around various cities in Indonesia, it wasn’t long before I noticed very alert and still-standing police giving oversight to busy intersections. I was interested in how many there were and, curiously, that they didn’t move an inch. They were similar to what I imagine the guards at Buckingham palace are like. When I questioned my Indonesian host, he laughed out loud.

“Those policemen are life-sized cement statues, not living human beings,” he said.

They were put there as a traffic-crime deterrent. In a sense, they stood on those corners, representing the law of the land, and representing real police officers.

Read Genesis 1:26 again:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”

In a sense, when we were created in God’s image, we were created to be His representatives.  More than being made in His image, like those stone statues in Indonesia, we are also made in His likeness, meaning we are representational—we reflect His character and likeness. We are to act as ambassadors that reflect His values and heart to a watching world.

How often do you consider God’s desire for you to represent Him in your world?