Got Smarts?

Smart phone? Why does a phone need "smarts"? What would happen if you lost your phone? Would you have a panic attack? Statistically speaking, a person's phone is one the last things he or she feels they can live without. These phones hold all of our information that if lost, it would feel devastating. We depend on them, completely. Doubt it? What is your cell phone number? Wife's cell? Kids? Friends? Most people stumble at their own number, because they say they don't call themselves (ok, that is my excuse). What happened to memorizing? Do you remember when, if you didn't have it memorized or written down, and carried with you, you did not have it, do you? Our children will seemingly never have to commit anything to memory, because they have devices at their fingertips, at all times, that can.

Technology is giving everyone the ability to do more, and although we feel getting more done is accomplishing more, I think we are missing some of the most simple and valuable parts of our lives. Sleep has become "overrated", and caffeine/energy drinks are a multi-billion dollar industry, and yet we seem to have less and less time to get what we think needs to get done accomplished...to what end?

We live in a more and more complicated world, and the propensity is for us to be distracted from the simple and most valuable things: us, and our relationship with God. God did not make it complicated, and wants us to rely on Him over any technology needed to reach Him. God said we matter most in His creation, so then in response we should matter most to each other. That is pretty simple, huh? Then why does everything get so complicated? Simply because that is not from God. Look at this verse:

"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,"   1 Corinthians 14:33.

Confusion happens when we try to play God in our lives, and for our lives - especially in the church. Two important things we need to grapple with in this verse: First, confusion is not from God, and second, that Paul says it refers to His church - he is talking about the Body of Christ - fellow believers, and not just anyone. We are accountable to God and to each other then - simply doing what God asks, and seeking His peace would be the smartest thing we could do.

So when criticism, dissension, anger, and things like gossip happens between fellow Christians (the church) we have to realize the source, and it is not God. God asks us to focus on Him, and to obey Him, as He desires only what is best for us. When we as the church, are at our best, is when we are simply dependent on God, and celebrate this together in community. This means that we don't require devices or ceremonies or anything to help us relate to Him, but simply come wholly as ourselves, before a Holy God, gathering together to celebrate who He is and what He has done, then to live it out daily, and then Repeat...now that is the smart thing to do.

...just prayin'

In His grip,

Pastor Pat