Finger tips, always reaching to touch, always stretching to take. Fingers, gripping till they're white, refusing to let go or to give up.
What do you hold to most tightly? Why?
I like my iPhone. I can check my twitter feed and instantly be up-to-date for the next 120 seconds. I can write a quick email and get my inbox to zero, again. I can take a picture, have fun during the editing process and feel relaxed. I can read the latest post from my favorite blog, then copy it to Evernote for saving, reading or printing later. I can take my thoughts, access my Bible software which has more resources than my bookshelves could support, and record a sermon idea to remember it tomorrow.
But then I turn off my phone and it's usefulness dies.
Such are the things we make. They cannot speak or hear or breathe, but somehow we feel they give us life. But they're not life-giving. There's no life in them. It's not that they're bad things; some are absolutely amazing. It's that their usefulness ends when turned off. But our joy can't end there.
Now, I'm not giving up my iPhone nor asking you to give up any thing in particular. But I am asking us to remember that every generation of the church (and individual Christian) has the tendency to ignore the greatness of Jesus and turn to some technology or idea or trend far lesser than Him.
And each generation has the opportunity to recognize in Jesus something far greater than what it has at its finger tips, as useful as it might be.
Technology, creativity, innovation, authenticity, excellence, passion, courage, vision, communication are all words written in my Bible, in my journal and on my heart. But none of the tools, skills or ideas I have or associate with those words are worth pursuing, much less holding onto, if they're not nailed to the cross, fastened to the Anchor, submerged in the River, secured to the Foundation, built on the Rock, rooted in the Soil, drinking of the Fountain, beating in the Heart, leaning on the Arm, abiding in the Vine, or growing in the Sun.
When Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), He meant doing something more than our planning, our progress or our productivity. He meant something more like our obedience to Him and our faith in Him. It's out of our obedience and faith that our planning, progress and productivity can be rightly directed, fueled and measured.
"Apart from me you can do nothing" isn't something we can engrave on our phones or advertise of our ideas or assert of ourselves or boast of our organizations. Why? Because these aren't the center or the source.
"Apart from me you can do nothing" is something that only Jesus can say about Himself. So we look to Him, we cling to Him, we worship Him.
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