I have always considered myself a reasonably intelligent human being. As the world judge’s intelligence, I have been tested to be above average. But I have proven time and again that being blessed with a functional mind does not guarantee anything.
Yesterday I spent most of my Sunday tuning up the school computers as RuthAnn struggled to get her classroom ready for today. As I sat downloading ‘Office 365’ on each of them I was struck by the idea of how much intelligence is available to the majority of the world today.
Just think of it. If you have a smart phone, you are holding a computer that is 32,000 times faster than the computers used for the Apollo Lunar Missions. And the typical iPhone 6 could be used to guide 120,000,000 Apollo era spacecrafts to the moon, all at once. Another fact that I love to repeat is that the average toaster has more computing power than the Apollo space capsule and remember that tin can made it to the moon and back. We now have the world at our finger tips, so to speak.
Don’t you find this fascinating? I can’t help it, I do. In less than 100 years we have come from a world that was completely manual to one that is completely computerized. But as fascinated as I am, I have to admit I am also just as leery of the trust and dependence we have put in the devices and computers that control our world.
If you read a blog I wrote just recently about driving a 1940’s car while the proud owners sat wondering how this contraption worked. It was just another an example of how we have lost contact with anything that is not controlled by a computer. Anything where we have to do the thinking, or we have to do the work. And I guess I find a great danger in this because this same attitude has seeped into our very believes. We have become a people on the whole who trust man made devices more than the men that made them. Or on another level, the God that made man.
I certainly am not here to advocate the return of the stone age. I have friends who have ridded themselves of televisions and limited the use of computers in their households. I have great admiration for this especially for younger families where children are now becoming basically non-functional unless they have a device to rely on. But on the other hand, I would not be typing this, because I am a dismal failure at typing on manual typewriters. And even if I did rescue an old Royal typewriter from an antique store, without the use of a copier, computer and the internet how would I share these thoughts with you?
No, it is not the devices that are the problem. Each one can be used to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and if that is true they can be inherently good. I think the issue is more the absolute trust that I put in the information they supply and my lazy dependence on it.
I have just finished my latest reading of the book of Romans. I like to alternate between it and the book of Hebrews as constant sources of rock solid reminders of from where our wisdom and faith should come. There are verses like this one: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33) When I read verses like these I am reminded that true wisdom, full and rich comes from having a relationship with our God. And also, no matter how smart our computers become we will never understand the depth of His intelligence or even His love.
The book of Proverbs says this: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3: 5-6) It is clear that we are asked to not put all our trust in the wisdom of this world be it a computer, politician or even a minister unless we filter it all through the Word of God. In the end the only Way, Truth and Life comes through Jesus Christ and if we are not putting that first we are in danger.
There is a warning in the book of Daniel that I think we should all keep in mind these days, “But you Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many will run to and fro and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:5) I believe we are now in those end times the book that was shut and sealed in Daniel’s time is now being revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and in His Word. But we are in danger of being to busy running to and fro and seeking after the increasing knowledge. Maybe today it is time to slow down enough to pick up the Bible and find the knowledge of God.
I love living in the time we are. As I sit here typing and my computer auto-corrects my typos and vocabulary, l am blessed. But as much as I love sharing what Jesus has done for me. I need His wisdom and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Lest I forget and my will and not His be done today. God forbid!
Blessings John
8/6/18
