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It’s the year of our Lord 2014.  Could the apostle Paul ever have imagined such a time?  Air Force stealth drones are zipping around enemy lines undetected, NASA is sending an unmanned spacecraft to Mars in September, and the FDA will be looking to approve a bionic suit to restore mobility to paraplegics this year.  The children born this year, according to Time magazine, will be the heaviest in recorded history and the most dependent on technology.*

The sand seems to be zipping through the hourglass in this day and age. Science, technology, health care treatments are pushing forward to new frontiers and our symbiotic relationship with our smart phones grows ever more codependent.  How do Christians and the Bible stay relevant in such times?

We don’t.  In our crazy, distracted age of vibrations, beeps, and noisy notifications, a little irrelevancy might be just the thing that is needed. Attention, focus, and the choice to slow down may be the necessary difference to cause people to wonder what sets us apart.  Putting away your phone to have dinner, listening intently to the person you are with, and actually stopping to pray when  you say you will are habits that could easily be gone with the wind if we don’t make effort to retain them.

Attentiveness, concern, and consideration will never go out of style and may become an increasingly rare commodity.  No one will be impressed with your newest iphone upgrade if you don’t put it down long enough to listen and engage with them.  And as for the Bible becoming obsolete, I’m not worried about that. This morning I read these timeless words:

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer  (Psalm 19:13-14).

Surely this prayer is for every generation in every age; it will always be relevant. No matter how sophisticated our technology becomes, we each still have hearts ready and willing to sin and spirits in need of cleansing and regeneration.

We will never outgrow our need for the gospel, for Christ.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever and never will we see the day when technology can make atonement for souls.  We can use technology for good and for the kingdom, but let us never be guilty of neglecting to worship the One who is always worthy of all praise.

*Time magazine, January 2014, pgs42,44