A Carbon Copy Father
A Challenge to Fathers
While going through some of my Father’s old papers, I ran across a receipt book with carbon copies. With all the new technology today, these receipts represent a thing of the past. Back in the day when writing a receipt for someone, you took two blank receipts and placed a piece of carbon paper between them. The carbon captured whatever you wrote on the top receipt and copied it onto the second one. The second one resulted in some flaws (different color, slight misalignment), but it represented a good image of the original. I smiled and thought of how my sister and I ended up a carbon copy of our dad.
Daddy loved the Lord and lived as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Yes, believe it or not, I am a PK (Pastor’s Kid). Growing up with this stigma, and because he pastored two churches for over 40 years, I can share more stories than I care to.
However, my fondest memories took me back to my childhood in our home. My room sat directly across from the door of the library and study room where my father prepared his sermons. Many nights I awoke to sounds of scripture reading, outbursts of praise, foot patting, hands clapping and joyful shouting and singing. I usually responded by placing the pillow over my head to drown out the sounds.
I watched my daddy year after year enjoying this fellowship. He started including us in his acts of worship. He instructed us in the word, led devotionals, prayed with us and for us, and gathered us together to sing songs of praise. He taught us to give first to God and to help others. He taught us in words and actions how to live as true disciples of Jesus.
As I think back now on all he did, it dawned on me that daddy made a decision to make carbon copies of Him because it ultimately resulted in carbon copies of Jesus. How? See, God gave my father the living Word by writing it on the tablet of his heart (the carbon). His heart captured the Word and copied it to his life. He lived as a carbon copy of Jesus Christ.
Yes, daddy possessed flaws, but his life represented a good image of Christ, the perfect original. Daddy then passed it on to his children. He gave us the living Word by writing it on the tablets of our hearts. Our hearts captured the Word and copied it to our lives producing more carbon copies of Jesus. The legacy of a carbon copy father!
In fact, God’s word reveals His desire for His people to mimic His Son. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren…”
Today, I find myself enjoying the same acts of worship I once tried to drown out with a pillow. I love reading the Lord’s word, enjoying devotionals, praying with and for others, and gathering together to sing songs of praise. Giving to the Lord first lets Him know I trust Him to cover all my needs and I rejoice when I can help others. Yes, with all my flaws, God knows my heart’s yearning to be conformed to His Son’s image. And it all started with my daddy’s craving to live as a carbon copy too.
Fathers, God seeks carbon copies of His Son. He desires a bunch of “look-a-likes” to enhance His kingdom. Will you live as a carbon copy of Jesus while also producing more copies with your children? I hope and pray your children can view your life as a legacy of a carbon copy father.
I don’t know about you, but I thank the Lord for my daddy’s yearning to be a carbon copy of Jesus and to pass on that desire to my sister and me. In spite of my flaws, I know I can live as a true disciple of Christ. Why? Simply …
