Copy and Paste for Christians
By Marlene Houk
Burke County
Proverbs 3:6 “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
From the days of onionskin copies to today’s “copy and paste” option, the ability to duplicate has exploded. In the early 1970s, I remember carefully sandwiching the translucent brownish paper between delicate black carbon sheets, inserting the packet slowly into the ancient manual typewriter, and producing so many copies that they gradually faded into barely discernible words. Sometimes, the last copy was almost indecipherable because the pressure of the keys was insufficient to make a solid impression. Today, with a few delicate clicks on the computer keyboard, a myriad of materials can be duplicated in just seconds, including text, pictures, clip art, and other graphics. Voilà! With no bells or whistles, your copied material lands quietly in your own personal file. Copying someone is easy.
The simple process of copy and paste reminds me of a spiritual parallel. Bible heroes climbed impossibly difficult mountains in their dramatic stories of faith, and they’ve left a GPS map for us. It is this: just as it is easy to highlight the material to be copied in today’s computer age, so our faith journey becomes clearer when we highlight the paths of Bible heroes. Abraham, Sarah, King David, and Paul the Apostle, to name a few heroes, encourage us to copy their spiritual truths, and “paste” them into our lives.
For example, in Hebrews 11:11, the Bible records that: “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Sarah was 90 years old when she had the baby that God promised to her and Abraham. How did she accomplish the impossible feat of delivering a baby at 90 years old?
The Bible says that she received strength through faith to conceive Isaac. She physically remained married and faithful to Abraham. This enabled her to fulfill God’s will for her which was to conceive Isaac.
One of the ways that we can “copy and paste” Sarah’s faith into our own Christian lives is to keep physically doing the things that we know are God’s will for us. Faith is the link between God’s plan for us and our physical ability to fulfill that plan. It is then that God will strengthen us, like Sarah, to conceive the spiritual seed of His will that seems impossible for us to deliver.
For example, working with non-believers who doubt our faith seems challenging, but the Lord directs our path when we acknowledge Him in all our ways (See verse above.) We continue to physically work each day, to focus on the Lord rather than react to their taunts, and to refuse to be polarized. God then uses our willingness as a sign of our faith that He will do as He promises to “work all things together for good” (Romans 8:28). The seed of the Gospel may be conceived in their non-believing hearts and new life in Christ delivered into their lives.
We can copy King David’s earthly tenacity (because we, like him, believe God is faithful) into our own spiritual goals. As we “paste” his pattern of physically continuing to do that which God commands, others recognize His working in our lives. God promises—we believe—faith becomes stronger—we receive the strength of body, soul, and spirit—we physically act in the direction of God’s will—miracles happen—God gets the glory.! Here are the instructions to “copy and paste” the wisdom from Bible giants of faith into your life:
- Highlight their actions by studying their stories in the Bible.
- Press the “CTRL” (Control) key and the letter C in your life by copying their wisdom.
- Open the document of your life.
- Press the “CTRL” (Control) and the letter V in your life, applying the wisdom from your Bible study.
Try it! You can “copy and paste” the spiritual lessons Bible characters teach you into your life. Watch God duplicate His glory in you through faith!
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Marlene is an author and teacher of Bible studies. She may be reached at Biblelady167@gmail.com
To receive helpful insight from the Bible, sign up for her newsletter at http://www.MarleneHouk.com, or connect with her on other social media. You can read more good Christian News from Marlene HERE.
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Blue Ridge Christian News covers Avery County, Burke County, McDowell County, Mitchell County, Yancey County, and Madison County in North Carolina, and Christian news from around the country.
