This past week marked a milestone moment for the technology world. Do you know the event to which I am referring? You might think I am referring to the social media giant Facebook going public, which would be a great guess. I was referring to the birthday of YouTube which turned 7 years old on Tuesday, May 21. Can you believe it has only been 7 years? It feels like YouTube has been with us a lot longer than that, doesn’t it?
Can you imagine life without YouTube? Facebook? The internet?
What would life be like without iPhones, iPads, and laptops?
I wonder what the next generation of technology will bring? Will it bring a promised simplicity to life or more complexity?
Check out the following video of a brief YouTube history:
A video like the one above reminds me of how quickly time is flying by. We are but a vapor in the wind, here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14). I am ever reminded of this when I look at my children, which are growing up way too fast! Time marches on, whether we like it or not.
At moments of reflection I am reminded of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Whenever I picture Ecclesiastes I see in my mind an image of an old man, sitting in his rocking chair, reflecting on life. Some biblical scholars argue that the Book of Ecclesiastes was King Solomon’s crowning achievement written near the end of his life. As he looks back, the words embodied in this masterpiece are a personal reflection on his tenure as king as well as a reaction to the pace and values of the world around him. Listen to some of the first words leaping from the pages of this piece of wisdom literature:
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-9)
No doubt, the world around us is changing at a rapid clip. There is no way to keep up with it all. In the grand scheme of things, the latest and greatest fads melt in comparison to the unchanging truth of God in His Word. The Logos made flesh, Jesus Christ, has come to put the broken pieces of our life back together again through His work on the cross (John 1:1-18).
Solomon’s great hope is for us, the reader, to see that a pursuit of anything other than God is meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, I love certain aspects of technology. Life without my iPhone would be dramatically different. The trouble is when we depend more upon the technology in our hand or the world around us to get us through life rather than depending completely upon the One who makes life, God Himself. Chasing after the latest technology is meaningless, which is always changing and evolving. So is chasing after the approval of man, a relationship, or another dust-laden item that ends up cluttering our garage shelf. Are there things in your life preventing you from going deeper with God in His Word? Is there a relationship that is strained, showing signs of needing attention? Has God become just another possession you own or does He own every part of who you are?
Let it go, friend, and let God!
The only lasting thing in existence today is a red thread that the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — has woven throughout history, a thread that finds its beginning and end in God Himself. We see its blood red color woven throughout the biblical narrative as it leads through Adam and Eve, through a flood and Exodus of a people out of Egypt, through a lowly manger in a little town named Bethlehem, all the way through a blood stained cross and empty tomb to the very end of life as we know it when the needle of Christ will plunge firmly into all creation, ushering in His triumphal return. This thread personally comes to us through a man, Jesus Christ, who seeks to weave us into the heavenly Father’s arms by His own sacrificial life and death. The thread means forgiveness and life to us! God is an artist, at work to weave a beautiful tapestry of a people and creation unto Himself.
Birthdays come and birthdays go, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. The thread of this promise and love has come to draw you home! I’d like to close with the words of a hymn that kept coming to mind as I pulled together this week’s blog.
I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love. (I Love to Tell the Story, verse 1)
The story to which we cling is an old, old story told from long ago. True, there is nothing new under the sun, but life in the “SON”, that is the place where all is made new! Including you.
Basking in the Son!
N
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