As Readers may have noted, we have an email address and two home pages for the magazine After resisting for a few years, we have found the email to be a quick and convenient means of communication Ecclesial news and articles come in to the computer without requiring us to keyboard them, which means they are quicker to process than faxed material Correspondence can be carried on more conveniently Communication is much quicker than the mail and items can be handled at one’s convenience rather than when the phone interrupts a flow of work.
Along with the email, we are also connected to the Internet which gives access to useful information in many areas and lets us check out the Tidings home pages. As noted a few months ago, some have figured out how to preach the gospel via Internet With an estimated 60 million currently on the web, projected to grow to 150 million by the year 2000, the potential exposure is staggering The explosion m use is noted in the following “The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of individuals that are accessing the Internet The development of the graphically-based, easy to use web browser has transformed the Internet from a communication tool for a select group of computer-savvy academics and scientists to a popular communications medium” (from an industry report by Smith Barney)
A down side
There is, however, an enormous problem with the Internet The obvious one is that it can soak up hours of valuable time With the pricing schemes available of one charge for unlimited usage, the temptation is great to browse around instead of getting on with family, ecclesial or Bible study activities.
Perhaps surprising to many of us, another major problem is porn A couple of years ago, we asked a computer professional why the Internet was gaming popularity His reply was the one word, “Porn” His comment came back to us with a rush when we were, of all things, looking up the spelling of Kazakstan in response to a letter to the editor We entered a related key word on the web browser and to our astonishment were presented with a list of sites featuring pictures and information on lesbians, gays and nudes of that area.
Since this was only the second time we had used the general inquiry system on the Internet, we asked some others who confirmed our experience was not unusual Evidently these are money-making sites where, for a fee, one is assigned a code number which gives access to the explicit material, and such sites are all over the place on the web.
The potential for contaminating the mind is incredible No magazine or video tape has to be bought and hidden around the house or a visit paid to some sleazy theater, this trash can be accessed right from one’s own desktop at any time, day or night We are told features even exist to click off to an innocent screen if someone walks in the room.
Many spiritual principles come to mind but two stand out which need frequent reinforcement we must deliberately forsake sin and seek God, secondly, the Lord continually sees everything, beholding the evil and the good.
Deliberate, calculated conduct
The spirit of God came upon Azariah to admonish the people “The LORD is with you, while ye be with him, and if ye seek him, he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you” (II Chron 15 2) They were not doing wrong at that moment, they were doing well having just relied upon God to give victory against the largest invading force recorded in scripture Yet at that moment they needed the exhortation, as do we.
We may feel the enemy is so great and the help of God so critical, our actions are almost irrelevant to the outcome Asa had restored the fortified cities on the frontier and had trained and equipped a reserve army of 580,000 men of valor Yet they felt overwhelmed by what they saw — a million armed men led by 300 chariots In spite of the extensive preparations, Asa was still left crying out, “LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on thee” (II Chron 14:11)
Why bother with all the preparations, training and sacrifice? God could save whether they had 58,000 or 580,000 That’s true, He could and did when necessary That’s not the point, however, they had done what they could when they could to strengthen themselves In a planned and deliberate manner, they had sought after the Lord They had done their part and now He would do His.
If, on the other hand, they would forsake Him, everything would change — He would forsake them Their efforts may have been overshadowed by God’s role in their salvation, but their efforts were an absolutely essential part in the equation.
So it is with us! “Seek ye first the kingdom of God “, “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find “, “Seek those things which are above “, “he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Matt 6 33, 7 7, Col 3 1, Heb 11 6) We may not be able to conquer sin on our own, but we certainly will not do it without our own considerable effort.
Sins vary in consequences
Sometimes our minds are clouded by the idea every sin is as serious as every other This is not true “There is a sin unto death and there is a sin not unto death” (I John 5 16-17) Under the law, there was a world of difference between uttering a rash oath and planning, designing and making a graven image, a distinction was consistently made between accidentally hurting someone and deliberately planning his harm.
In our own lives, there is a major difference between the rush of circumstance which evokes from us a wrong response, and the deliberate signing up for access to immoral material or the determined plan to seek revenge It is no accident when night after night we head for the theater or video store to fill our minds with iniquity Equally, it is no accident when night after night we sit down to fill our minds with the word of God.
In our deliberate actions, we must seek the Lord if He is to be found by us, we must be with Him if He is to be with us “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak for your work shall be rewarded” (II Chron 157).
God sees everything now
Yet Asa forgot, in a crisis five years later, he relied on man and not God The prophet’s rebuke was sharp “Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him Herein thou hast done foolishly” (II Chron 16 8-9).
It’s not easy to remember God sees all We can’t see Him and consequently have an instinctive reaction He doesn’t see us Although we know Christ is “coming,” speak of our “absent” Lord Jesus, and anticipate with trepidation the “future” judgment seat of Christ, we must not lose sight that he now walks in the midst of his followers.
When we waste hours browsing through worldly trivia or opening immoral websites, He’s watching us, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings For mine eyes are upon all their ways they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes” (Prov 5 21, Jer 16 17) That can be a strong deterrent when we’re slipping into sin It’s quite the opposite when we’re in trouble and need God’s instant help Then we are very glad indeed He sees all.
We can’t have one without the other, however “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Prov 15:3)
Let us make a deliberate effort to use the technology of our time for good and not for ill, for the Lord pondereth all our doings and looks for us to seek Him with all our hearts.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One