Copy Cats

Remember when you were a kid in school and the names people were called? Cutter, Tattle Tale, Cheater, and then there was the “Copy Cat”. We all knew there were those who had wandering eyes when it came to class work. I would hunch down over my paper real close as I filled in my answers. As I got to the bottom of the sheet I would cover the top part of my paper with my forearm and hand as I kept on writing. I despised “Copy Cats”. To me it was the same as stealing, I guess. I would study and do my work like I was supposed to, and then if someone even had the thought of looking off my paper and “robbing” my answers, I would be furious. I remember people getting reputations as “Copy Catters” and some of us dreaded it when the teacher rearranged the classroom. We all always worried about getting our desk moved next to a trouble maker or a copy cat. If there was the slightest hint of someone with eyes roaming across the room to and fro, it was like we would descend upon our paper and throw our whole body on top of it. I bet it looked like an all out seizure! All just because we “thought” someone may or may not be looking off our paper.

Can you hear yourself in your third grade voice? “Stop reading my answers!” “I’m gonna tell Mrs._________ if you don’t stop!” “Cheater cheater pumpkin eater!” Or sometimes the teacher would blurt out the dreaded statement to the whole to the class, “Eyes on your own paper!” Immediately, every time I heard this, my heart would start pounding because I was fearful she had mistaken me for cheating despite the fact there was 30 other students in the classroom. I was petrified of cheating, it’s a wonder I even have peripheral vision at this point because I was so afraid to let my eyes move off my desk!

Believe it or not, being a “Copy Cat” can be a good thing and here’s why:

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” 1 Cor 11:1

The apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church telling them to “imitate” him because he was “imitating” Christ.

“Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children” Eph 5:1

What does “imitate” mean? I looked it up in the dictionary and the definition I found was “to reproduce or copy”. So to paraphrase Ephesians 5:1 for our purposes, it could say something like “be copy catters of God”. If we were in a classroom with Him, I really don’t think He would cover up His paper on His desk. He wouldn’t descend upon His paper with His entire upper body at the slightest movement around Him. I think He would helping a struggling friend out and write the answers REAL BIG to be sure she could see the answers from across the room! He has all the answers, and unlike me in my elementary days, He is glad to share them.

The question is – if the teacher were to take up my paper today, could she tell who I had been copying off of?

Father, I am so thankful that you don’t expect me to have all the answers. You have them all laid out before me. All I have to do is move my eyes from my small space over to yours. You are there waiting to help me do well. I pray that my eyes would be turned to you today and let you give me the answers to the questions I face.

Amy Dotson, RPDOTK (Royal Princess Daughter Of The King)