Be careful how you copy from others

Bottom line: What is food for your brother may be poison for you.

Teaching

Growing up, we were taught to imitate our elders and copy their good characters. Our parents taught us to follow and copy the examples of our mates who always were top of the class. We were told to copy how they studied, how they revised for exams, and so on. So we did, or at least tried. Some of them told me that they always wake up at 1 am at night to study. This was the secret of their success. I tried doing that but it didn’t work for me. Instead, it produced an adverse effect. I found myself sleeping during lectures and lacking concentration in class. I didn’t score better grades in my exams. Therefore, I learned that copying from others doesn’t always work.

The above story is quite similar to what a lot of Christians experience in their daily walk with the Lord. They copy a lot of things from other Christians regardless of whether they are led by the Lord or not.

There are general instructions given to all Christians through the scriptures. For example, how to pray, how to live by faith, how to worship the Lord, how to tithe or sow a spiritual seed, and more. Everything about the Christian lifestyle is given to us in the Bible. Therefore, the children(babies) in Christ are asked to copy the mature Christians who are living according to the Word of God. So, Paul the apostle says:

¹ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Ephesians 5:1(ESV)

However, God by the leading of His Spirit gives each Christian specific instructions on what to do concerning different situations and different circumstances. We can see examples of such specific instructions in the Bible. Our proof text says:

⁴ Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

 ⁵ For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Judges 13:4-5 (KJV)

This was a specific instruction given to Mrs. Manoah concerning the son she was going to birth forth. Samson was his name and his hair was not to be shaved by the Lord’s instruction. That was the sign of his consecration. When we read the full story, we understand that Samson grew up and became a Judge who saved Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. The spirit of the Lord would come upon Samson when he called on the Lord and he will have an unhuman strength which he used to destroy his enemies. On several occasions, the Philistines sought to know the secret of Samson’s strength so that they could capture him but they did not succeed until one day, he revealed this secret to a woman. This marked the end of his reign.

After reading such a story, one would be tempted to think that keeping long hair from birth would confer us with supernatural powers like Samson. But we all know that it wouldn’t work. Keep long hair all you want, you will remain as normal as any other human being on earth. This is because the power of Samson was not in his long hair, but in his obedience to the Lord’s instruction given to him. The power came on Samson as long as he obeyed that specific instruction of the Lord.

On one occasion, Samson went into the house of a harlot and spent the night there. After such an unholy act, in the morning, the Bible says in an attempt to trap Samson in that city, the city gates were locked. But the Holy Spirit came upon Samson and he uprooted the city gates and carried them on his shoulder to a high mountain.

The children of Israel were commanded by God not to marry out of Israel but Samson did, yet the Holy Spirit still came upon him when he called upon the Lord. The Spirit of God left him only when he broke the specific instruction given to him by the Lord.

Now, I guarantee you that if you engage in sexual immorality and do similar things that Samson did, you will have different results. Be careful how you copy. What is good or permissible for your brother may be fatal to you if you try it. So, don’t just copy everything you see in the life of a fellow Christian.

Today, I see a lot of pastors and ministers of God copying from those leaders they admire in ministry. They copy just everything. This can be dangerous to an extent. Stick to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I remember the Lord once spoke to me and said “Be careful of imitation. What will work for them may not necessarily work for you. Don’t do what they do, or the way they do it unless it is a prompting of the Spirit of God within You. Always be led(moved to take action) by the spirit and not by sight.”

Therefore I say to you today, be led by the Spirit and be careful of imitation.

Further Study

• Hosea 1:2 [When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”]

Reflection

• How often do you yield to the voice of the Lord’s Spirit for direction?

Prayer

Thank you, Lord Jesus because by your Spirit in me, I have access to specific instructions that should guide me to chart the right course for my life. I declare that I am led by your Spirit daily in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen