Scripting

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Part 0

Introduction

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

In this devotional, I will discuss two unrelated topics: scripture and scripting. On the surface, these two are quite different, but as you follow along you will see how they relate. I am a Christian and a person who writes computer scripts. How can these two topics be compared in a Christian devotional? Over the next seven days you will learn how development, coding, and script-ure (pun intentionally added) are relate. I feel that this devotional can be enjoyed by everyone, even those without a technical background.

I often see devotionals written by biblical scholars, pastors, authors, and worship leaders. I would not be bold enough to compare myself to any of the previously mentioned professionals. I am guy that has a heart for the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). I use the IT profession as a means of making a living. God called me to start writing my own devotionals, so this is my attempt in fulfilling my calling. I hope I am able to draw people closer to their God-given destiny. In the process, someone may be inspired to learn coding as well. As a result, I hope you will see your profession through a Godly lens. Is there a way you can connect your career to your spirituality? I feel there is.

Over the next several days, I invite you to go on a journey with me as I attempt to link my profession to the Word of God.

Part 1

Binary

Today we will focus on binary (0 or 1, off or on, yes or no). Binary is the basic instructions that computers and electronics understand. Electrical currents used by computers operate by taking one of two different states: off (0) or on (1). Without digging too deep into the technical details, just know that when a computer is processing information it is processed as binary.

As mentioned in the introduction, computers, like everything else man-made tries to simulate God's creation. Let us take a step back in history. We are going all the way back to the beginning of time. God began by forming things that were opposite to each other. In Genesis chapter 1, there are several binary relationships. Remember, binary is a term used to relate two logical elements.

At the fall of mankind, another binary creation became part of the human experience: good vs. evil! Just as binary in computers have two different states (off or on), humans operate in two basic states: good or evil. You can choose to be one or the other. The Bible says in Romans 12:21 ...to overcome evil with good. We can overcome evil by reading, trusting, and living God's word everyday of our lives.

In computer science, zero or 0 represents off, and 1 represents being on. Always choose to live as the number 1: on for God's purpose. The opposite effect would be 0, and that would mean living in a state void of fulfilling your God-given purpose. God is not a God of void. Isaiah 55:11 states, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Takeaway:

Think about how God wants you to be a zero or 0 for things that have no value, and a 1 for things that support His will for your life.

Part 2

Language - Story of Babel

Software engineers across the world have developed hundreds of programming languages. Many different programming languages have been created to accomplish specific goals: building apps, creating games, analyzing data, complex calculations, etc.

Have you ever wondered why the world has so many different written and spoken languages? Let me introduce you to the story of the Tower of Babel. The story of Babel, found in Genesis 11, explains how and why God created the many languages spoken throughout the world. The people of that day decided they wanted to build a tower to reach Heaven. They did this to make a name for themselves, think along the lines of creating a landmark as an idols to represent their nation. Instead of honoring God, the people of Babel wanted to showcase their own brilliance. God decided to confuse the languages and scatter the people across the earth, causing people to be grouped together by their languages. No matter how smart, creative, talented, or skilled you may be, our talents should always point to God as the source - not ourselves.

We should never get so wrapped up in our own achievements that we forget the creator of the world. The Bible tells us "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters." - Psalms 24:1-2 (NIV). God also reminds us how much He hates pride in Proverbs 8:13 (NIV) - "To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." God wants us to get wisdom and understanding - "Then he taught me, and he said to me, 'Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them.'" - Proverbs 4:4-5 (NIV) Godly wisdom will propel us much further than our own achievement. Trust God and *commit your work to Him!

*commit – in computer science and data management, is the making of a set of tentative changes permanent

Takeaway:

What are you speaking? When you speak, speak using words that pleases God.

Part 3

Decisions

Decisions determine the path in which we take to reach an outcome in our lives. One feature in every programming language is conditional statements. These statements directs the program on which path to take. A very common conditional statement is the if/else block. This graphic is a visual representation of the if/else conditional statement in the form of a flowchart.

Our lives are directed by these same decision statements. If a condition is presented to us, we have two possible paths of execution: we can choose God's will or we can choose the enemy's will. There is no grey area. Joshua 24:15 provides us with clear instructions - "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

We all have a daily choice to make: Serving God and living out His will for our lives, or serving other things that are not of God. You cannot have it both ways just as I mentioned in the Binary devotional. We can either be 0 (off) or 1 (on), not both. God has a plan for our lives and so does the world. God has a plan that involves the fruit of the spirit: "...love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" - Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV). These are things God desires for our lives. Galatians 5:1 tells us to stand firm and not let ourselves be burdened by the yoke of slavery. Christ made the decision to go to cross in order to provide a way for us the escape from cycles of sin. Choose the path that leads to freedom, the path that directs you to God's kingdom.

Takeaway:

Do you have a decision to make? If so, present it to God in prayer and let His direction guide you to His will.

Part 4

Loops

Loops are the structure by which instructions are repeated until a condition is satisfied. Some common loops are for, for each, while, and do until.

In Exodus, God promised the children of Israel, "a land flowing with milk and honey." However, their lack of faith and surrender to God prevented them from reaching the promise land for over 40 years. During this time, they wondered in the wilderness while repeating the same cycles of disobedience. In what must have seemed like a never-ending loop to both God and to the children of Israel. Can you think of any times or situations in your life that you kept repeating the same mistakes? It is amazing how God will allow us to repeat the same lesson until His condition is met. Then and only then can we break out of the loop. This loop could be tied to a season, lifetime, or span generations. Let us not be like the children of Israel and wonder in the wilderness when we already have access to the promised land.

Another loop you may find yourself in is the loop of getting off course and having to repent, whether it be to God or to your fellow man. Jesus addresses this type of forgiveness in Matthew 18:21-22. Peter asked Jesus, "how often should I forgive my brother or sister, up to seven times?" While this verse says brother or sister, this could mean our natural born siblings, parents, friends, classmates, or coworkers. You get the picture. Jesus' answer to Peter was quite the iteration or loop. Jesus said, not "seven times, but seventy-seven times." Another translation states "seventy-times seven."

The Bible commands us to forgive, then forgive, then forgive again. Jesus doesn't want us to just forgive. He wants us to love. Love is the only way to truly forgive. Just think of the number of times you've had to ask for forgiveness. Not just forgiveness from family or friends, but from God. God programmed us to ask for forgiveness and to be willing to forgive. This forgiveness comes through Jesus. That is where we get grace - an unmerited gift that we can't earn, but still receive it because we are loved by God. We inherited it through God's love and Jesus' sacrifice. Also, this is where we get mercy - God's compassion even when we are caught in a loop of wrong doing.

The moral of the story here is to shorten your loop. We should not live our lives in an infinite loop. Our life should not be like the instructions on the shampoo bottle "wash, rinse, and repeat." In our personal journey, just as in development, this will lead to a crash in the program. However, if you execute God's will properly you can satisfy His condition on the first try, and you will not have to repeat that lesson again and again.

Takeaway:

The next time you find yourself in a loop how will you proceed?

Part 5

Inheritance

Warning: This first paragraph is a bit technical, but stick with me. I promise it will all make sense. In development, more specifically object-oriented programming, inheritance is exactly what you would expect a relationship between a parent (superclass) and a child (subclass). When I talk about a class, I am not talking about rooms in a school or a person's social status. Classes are blocks of code that define some type of data object. Inheritance comes into play when you consider sub classes can take on property from the parent class. Just as a child derives attributes from their parent so do classes in development. Classes in development are obviously not something computer scientists invented. This was how God made mankind. Take a look at Genesis 1:26 (NIV) God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”

Just as subclasses in development inherit from the parent class, the same is true for humans we inherit traits from God. We inherited love, grace, wisdom, and patience are just a few of the many things we inherited from God. We are called to use the gifts we inherited to help draw others to God. More on this will be explained in Part 6 - Algorithms.

Throughout the Bible, we learn of the genealogy of the people and their roles in history. Both the old and new testaments give the family lines of biblical figures. In Genesis chapter 5, you can read the family line from Adam to Noah. In the New Testament, you can find the family line of Jesus in Matthew 1. This genealogy covers the 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus.

After reading these genealogies, you will see some very well-known names in the bloodline between Abraham and Jesus. Some of those names are Boaz, David, Solomon, and Joseph just to mention a few. Take some time to read through the list of names and understand how Jesus’ earthly ancestors, with all their flaws, lead to Jesus our perfect Savior. I tell you this because we often use excuses like “I am how I am because of my ancestors.” While we do inherit a lot of our attributes from our ancestors, we receive “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created." James 1:17-18 (NIV). Let us use our good and perfect gift that we inherited from God to draw closer to our creator.

Takeaway:

What have you inherited from God? How will you use what you inherited from God?

Part 6

Algorithm

An algorithm, in computer science, is the process by which you solve a development task. The set of rules and instructions that you follow to get to the desired result. Think of an algorithm as a recipe in baking. You have all the ingredients and instructions to make a cake. The thing about an algorithm is you can solve the same problem with different steps. If you give five developers the same problem to solve, you will have five completely different approaches to solving it. Also each developer may use a different programming language to solve the problem. This is because they will solve it with the language and algorithm that is best matched to their skills.

We all have the same goal in life as a Christian (worship, honor, serve, ministry and discipleship). We all have different gifts and talent that we use to walk through our Christian journey. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12, the gifts of the spirit. In verses 4-5 we are told, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord". Below you will find the various gifts of the spirit, found in verses 8-11.

You may only have one of these gifts, a few, or all. It does not matter how many gifts you have, let God use your gift. 1 Corinthians 12:11 - goes on to explain why we should not stress over not having every gift. God assigns these gifts in accordance with what He wants you to do with your gift. This chapter talks about if the whole body is a hand, or an eye, or an ear; where would the rest of the body be? We also learn from this chapter that we should not be ashamed, nor should we shame others based on our gift. Think about the words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV), "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" Also, in verse 10, "for when I am weak, then I am strong." God's strength and grace are more than enough for us to accomplish the plan He has for our life. If we feel we don't measure up, we should pray to God for courage and strength, to use our gift for His purpose.

Takeaway:

What is your God given gift? How are you using your gift to honor God?

Part 7

Debugging

What is debugging? Debugging is the process of removing defects and errors. After you go through the process of learning, planning, and writing your code, then you need to compile it to see if you have any errors. Then you should remove the errors and test to make sure your code functions as expected.

I am keeping with the theme above: learning, planning, writing, and removing errors. The Bible is what we need to learn. We plan based on what God has spoken in our hearts. We use the gifts and talents that we have been given for the task at hand. Think of the coding part as your journal. If you have never used a journal to document where you are daily, weekly, or monthly you are missing out on an opportunity to see where you are and reflect on what you have overcome in life.

The debugging process should start with looking over the pages of your journal to see where you previously went wrong. Analyze your intentions and weigh them against what the Bible commands us to do with our lives. Think about debugging in terms of 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 (NIV) - "If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work."

By looking over the pages you will then see your errors and make it right. Once you have passed the debugging phase you have not completed the journey. You start over again with the next season or area of your life that you want to improve. This is how you will live your life in the joy and peace of God's plan. The letter to the Philippians defines this perfectly, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV).

Takeaway:

Have you ever looked back over your life to see how far you have come? If you are not where you want to be, pray for God to remove the defects and follow His path to a defect-free life.

Wrap Up

This "Scripting" devotional is the starting line of how to run the race that we have been given. The idea for this devotional came out of a week of fasting. During this fast I asked God to reveal to me what he wants from me. I felt the tug on my heart to write my own devotionals. I usually read one or two devotionals each day, written by others, to help me keep my iron sharpened for the battle.

As I mentioned in the introduction, I would not call myself a writer, so I pondered what I would write about. I asked God for guidance and I was told to write about what I know. I know technology, computers, scripting, etc. I spend a third of my day around technology and thought it would be fun to merge who I am (a Christian) and what I do (Information Technology) into a devotional. I embarked on a journey to try to merge Christian life with scripting. I must say I enjoyed trying to draw parallels between the two realities in my life.

I hope this seven-day devotional speaks to you especially if you are technical and you want to see how your Christian walk and career don't have to be mutually exclusive, but totally inclusive. In my case, I don't have to simply be a Christian or a person in IT; I can be both. I wanted to keep the terms and concepts basic for anyone that might not grasp the technical world of IT or software development, and still make it relatable to your life. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.







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“Commit (data management)” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Jan 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commit_(data_management)#:~:text=In%20computer%20science%20and%20data,is%20called%20the%20commit%20log.