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Today's meditation
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Copies, not originals
John 7:14-36: Then Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.
I often tell people that I love to draw, but I’m quick to say that I’m more of a copier than an artist. I have to use another drawing, to see where each line goes, rather than sketching a real thing or person. I’m certainly no artist.
In the most important decisions of life, we would do well to confine ourselves to copying instead of trying to create our own art. While the “What would Jesus do?” question seems hard to apply to modern life, it actually serves us well We may think that situations we encounter have never happened before, but the core principles in human actions have lasted through the whole history of God and God’s people.
Jesus made it clear to his disciples that he was not making simple human declarations, but that he was teaching what he heard from God. He said, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.” He went on, “Those who speak on their own seek their own glory.” If we declare ‘truth’ without consulting God in Jesus, we invite arrogant error.
In other words, we do better to copy than to pretend to create our own art.
Psalm 18:1-20; Job 8:1-10, 20-22; Acts 10:17-33
Copyright 2026 by Carol Mead. For noncommercial use and sharing only. For more information on this ministry, and on a free subscription to these meditations, please contact the author by email (thenewmead@yahoo.com).
I often tell people that I love to draw, but I’m quick to say that I’m more of a copier than an artist. I have to use another drawing, to see where each line goes, rather than sketching a real thing or person. I’m certainly no artist.
In the most important decisions of life, we would do well to confine ourselves to copying instead of trying to create our own art. While the “What would Jesus do?” question seems hard to apply to modern life, it actually serves us well We may think that situations we encounter have never happened before, but the core principles in human actions have lasted through the whole history of God and God’s people.
Jesus made it clear to his disciples that he was not making simple human declarations, but that he was teaching what he heard from God. He said, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.” He went on, “Those who speak on their own seek their own glory.” If we declare ‘truth’ without consulting God in Jesus, we invite arrogant error.
In other words, we do better to copy than to pretend to create our own art.
Psalm 18:1-20; Job 8:1-10, 20-22; Acts 10:17-33
Copyright 2026 by Carol Mead. For noncommercial use and sharing only. For more information on this ministry, and on a free subscription to these meditations, please contact the author by email (thenewmead@yahoo.com).