Читать книгу Mustard Seeds - Melissa Levi - Страница 13

Is there an APP for That?

I have just returned from vacation with my friend and her family. It is hard to leave behind the smell of Hawaiian Tropic, eating too much at Joe’s Crab Shack, sunburns, chlorine tainted hair and the freedom of not having a schedule.

Things have changed a lot since I was a kid traveling with my brother and sister fighting for every inch of my third of the back seat. We played games like counting cows, red cars or license plates. We sat on the side of the road as mom passed out sandwiches and Dad consulted the map. We talked to each other, laughed, fought, and marveled at the scenery, but not today. Today my girls sat in the back listening to music on headphones and texting wildly to three sometimes four friends at a time. The GPS barked instructions in Ronald Reagan’s voice while my android brought up Points of Interest and Sirius radio kept us tuned to our choice of music. The car was silent except for the “Hit list of the 80’s”.

So when the GPS failed, the radio became scrambled and my android lost its feed outside of Bryson City, NC. I was not really that upset. We stopped at a welcome center and got a map. Yes, they still have them! Together we plotted our route and we were off again. The winding roads of the Carolina Mountains made it essential for the girls to look up and away from their Smartphones to avoid motion sickness. The scenery was breathtaking. We got out of the van and walked along a trail to see a waterfall. Along the way we saw two water moccasins and about ran over each other to get up the incline; then laughed wildly as we relived our brush with death with one another. Back in the van the chatter of excited teens and tweens filled the air.

Now, we were vacationing!

As we pulled into our hotel I noticed a family in the hot tub. The father was reading on his Kindle and each of his girls had a Smartphone tethered to them and his wife was adjacent on her iPad. What a sad view of today’s American Family, together yet never so far apart.

We are playing right into the hands of our enemy.

Today, the world is more connected than ever before. There is texting, Skype, email, you name it there is a way to get a message to anyone and everyone. The internet has knitted nation to nation and people to people all across the globe, but the suicide rate, divorce rate, broken homes and the number of people popping anti-depressants is the highest it has ever been and rises daily. We are isolating ourselves more and more. There are iPhones, iPads, iPods iTunes, iCal, iChat, iSync, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, etc. We have become an I-people, all about me. What I want, when I want it, how I want!

Everything is at your fingertips and just a “google” away.

As I read back over what I have just written, I am reminded of the “five I will’s” of Satan. Satan is all about the “I” as seen in Isaiah 14:12-15.

12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

When Satan forgot his place and focused on his “I”, destruction was right on his heels. When we forget that we are here not for ourselves, but for others. Destruction is close. As born again, professing Christians, we are to put away the “I” and look to the Son. Jesus stepped down from Glory. Removed His robes of white, took off his crown and his feet touched earth as a baby. He put away everything for you. There was no “I” when Jesus bled it was about you. And it was about your neighbor, co-worker, friend, cashier, doctor, dry cleaner, and the person next to you at the bank. Jesus did not take up the cross for himself. He had no need of the saving grace his blood provided. The whole cross was for you. There could be nothing more important to share with all those around you. Make the face to face communication with those that are in need.

Show them a face filled with the light of the loving Lord. Depart from the norm and reach out with a warm hand.

Your challenge:

Take time this week to pick up a pen and write a card, stamp it and mail it. Dial a new number on your phone and speak to someone that maybe wasn’t in church this week or someone you haven’t seen in a while. Forgo the email or text and knock on someone’s door.

Take the “I” out and put the Son in.