I encountered an old friend of my daddy’s last year. I had not seen him since my daddy died. The first thing he said to me was, “You’re the spitting image of your daddy.” Now, I suppose that was a compliment. I was a dead ringer of my daddy. I started thinking about the phrase, spitting image. When you think about it, it’s a very odd phrase. Spitting is really kind of nasty. Nobody wants to see someone spit. Have you ever noticed that baseball players can’t seem to play without spitting? We see these precious newborn babies and often someone says to them that she’s the spitting image of your daddy. Is that just a southern thing? Anyway, I googled “spitting image” and there was no real consensus on where that phrase came from. Some think that it’s a contraction of two words that originally were “spirit and image.” Doesn’t that sound better to say that she was the spirit and image of her daddy. Following Jesus means going where Jesus went and doing what Jesus did. The goal of following Jesus is to be transformed into the spitting image of Christ. 1 John 3:6 says that whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. When you are living and loving like Jesus lived and loved, then others will see the spirit and image of Jesus in you. When others see the spirit and image of Jesus in you, then God will use that witness to lead someone else to a new life in Christ.
– Dr. Tim Thompson