“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8 NASB)
When it comes to technology versus the tenets, the former changes, the latter does not change, never fade, stands forever.
Do you remember when children could be told they had to go to be when TV went off, around 11:00 p.m. and that was on Friday nights only? Now, largely because of technology, TV is on twenty-four hours a day, every day of the week. Technology changes. Do you remember the days when you had to use carbon paper on your typewriter to retain a copy of your work? Nowadays, if you see a typewriter in the workplace, it is usually part of office décor, yes only kept as an antique of times gone by. Technology changes. People at one time had to fill up ice trays, except the time nobody wanted to take the last cube because that meant you had to perform the laborious work to fill up the tray with water. Well, today’s technology makes it possible to speak to your kitchen equipment and it does all the work. Technology changes. Your dog was your alarm system in the past. Now you have wide-lens cameras outside that record everything and you can even check what is going on from miles away. Technology changes. Sweating over the hot stove was a daily task for mom and/or dad when we were children. But to be fair, we must admit it was mostly mom. Today you have the microwave, the drivers who deliver your fast food, and weekly meals already prepped that you can order online and have shipped to your door. Technology changes. We once walked, didn’t even have a dime to call anybody for a ride, or if we had a little money, we rode the bus, or if we had more money, we called cabs. Now we have the option of scheduling a time and place to be picked up by using an app on our cell phones. No more rotary phones that you hoped the person you called did not have too many seven, eight of nine numerals in their home number, for that would tire out today’s young people’s hands. Oh, I am sorry, I meant to refer to the “land line.” You know the one you give to creditors and people you really never want to talk to anyway. Technology changes. I’ll tell the truth, I am a baby-boomer, and you can tell by how I flip up my hand upwards, waiting on it to get to what we are looking for, much like waiting for a slot machine to stop, as I scroll through my phone. (BTW: I just saw the slot machine stuff on TV, Smile!) My one finger strolling technique cracks my youngest daughter up. She laughs to tears. Another related revelation I will share. Not so long ago I was teaching a junior/senior level college course, and I noticed one student not ever taking notes. I kept him after class to ask why he was so disinterested. He took out his phone and had either taken pictures of all I had written on the board or had displayed on the outdated overhead projector. He probably recorded me too! Technology changes.
Well, while technology changes, But let’s look at technology versus the tenets. The Ten Tenets, traditionally called ‘The Ten Commandments” they never change. Don’t let anybody persuade you or influence you to think differently. They never change! Look! It’s Sunday morning, a day before the Memorial Day holiday, and many of you may not make it to church. So let me present the Ten Tenets to you in a paraphrase edition of the Bible for your review, remembrance, of reinforcement. Read on, really! Have a wonderful day! Be blessed!
God spoke, and these were his words: 2 “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. 3 “Worship no god but me. 4 “Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. 6 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws. 7 “Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name. 8 “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. 9 You have six days in which to do your work, 10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work—neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. 11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.” 12 “Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you. 13 “Do not commit murder. 14 “Do not commit adultery. 15 “Do not steal. 16 “Do not accuse anyone falsely. 17 “Do not desire another man’s house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns.” (Exodus 20:1-17 Good News Translation)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King