Almost 20 years ago, a close friend uttered the phrase “the Word before the world” which has served as my daily aspiration. Many mornings, I am reading and journaling before the early beams of sunlight have reached my bed. Previously, I kept my Bible along with a selection of daily devotionals and a spiral notebook next to my bed. But, several years ago, I switched to an online format for both reading and journaling, so a small Chromebook now sits by the nightstand.
As part of my journaling, I often include excerpts of the text I’ve found inspiring. Because I’m completing this process in relative darkness, I’ve memorized the placement of certain shortcut functions. One morning, I noticed that the Copy/paste (Ctrl C & V) shortcuts were right next to each other, while the print shortcut was at the opposite corner of the keyboard. I thought to myself, there is probably a life lesson hidden in this observation.
Scripture teaches us that:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
As we study God’s words, we are meant to immediately copy and paste them into our hearts and minds. Psalm 119:11 (I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you) is just one example of the Bible teaching us to utilize scripture in our lives. And while we are also commissioned to spread God’s word to others, I think we need some time to let scripture lessons resonate within us first.
We need to let the words saturate our own lives before we print them out for others to see. To know and understand God’s truth before our speech can be seasoned with that wisdom for others to hear. Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Frequent use causes certain keys on a keyboard to become a bit more faded when compared to other keys. I hope the same can be said of my life. That I have filled my head and heart with what truly matters! The Word before the world. Copy/paste, copy/paste, copy/paste….then print.