SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 1:10.      My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
 
Oh Friends, another day in our earthly pilgrimage is dawning, bright and beautiful in some physical locations, dark and dreary in others. But yuh know what; in all the hearts that know and LOVE Jesus, the day is dawning bright and beautiful with a sure promise of great things to come, regardless of the physical surroundings. Now today, I want to share a few quotes re virtual reality and the real reality, from this book I’ve been reading, ‘The Incredible Power of Grace – When God’s Assurance Becomes Your Own,’ by Roland R. Hegstad. Oh my brethren, in this modern age of almost instant communication, we’ve become so caught up in computers and all they represent, especially the chance to play in cyberspace and fantasize in what’s termed virtual reality. And as computers become more important, more invasive in our lives, unfortunately a by-product is that we tend to forget, lose sight or understand what is true reality. Author Hegstad advises that to truly understand what’s happening, we have to define our world in small frames of reference, like a photographer does when taking a picture. That frame can only hold so much information, but it’s invariably a true reflection of what’s there. He says: ‘In short, to define reality correctly, we must frame our world through the viewfinder of God’s Word – a viewfinder that reminds us that virtual reality is banishing face-to-face, heart-to-heart communication and friendship that God desires us to share.’ (Page 104) And isn’t that the REAL truth Friends? Virtual reality causes us to lose the reality of interacting with each other on a truly human, face to face basis. It’s become so silly and widespread now to see a group of supposed friends sitting together without any conversation between them, because they are all so busy texting or doing whatever on their communicating devices. Sometimes they can even be sitting together and texting each other rather than talking. How silly is that eh? And the sad part is that’s all most of our young people know and are accustomed to! Oh my people, I believe as author Hegstad does, that our world is quickly losing touch with the real reality and replacing it with the virtual stuff, which is not, and can never be the genuine article, but will always be a mere approximation. And do we want our lives to be ruled by mere approximations? I think not! So please, let’s not get so caught up in the cyberspace and the virtual realities of this world, that we lose sight of who and whose we are. As author Hegstad points out: ‘In God’s vision reality is something more than virtual: it’s a Person, a Person with nail-pierced hands: it’s adoption into the family of God, taking His name and becoming part of His own indestructible heredity.’ (Page 108) That therefore means, ‘Reality has a face! Reality is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ! And we are reality because we are created in His image. We are not just actors on a galaxy-sized Hollywood set. Here and now, we are God’s children. For the child of God, reality is never freedom from individuality, but freedom at last to be finally and fully oneself.’ (Page 114) And ‘When we lose touch with the reality that is Jesus Christ, we also lose self-identity – the concept of who we really are: here and now God’s son; here and now God’s daughter; here and now part of His own indestructible heredity; here and now LOVED beyond comprehension.’ (Page 106) Ah mih people, computers have their uses, as tools, but sadly, because of the world’s forceful push, we are allowing them to invade and control the very essence of our lives. In many ways, they are doing what our Bit so rightly advises against. ‘My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.’ Yes my brethren, this communication and information age is playing serious havoc with our lives. Granted, it gives us more opportunity to spread the Word, but by the same token it also provides more opportunity for us to be grossly mislead. And believe me, a lot of us are being seriously misled, duped and scammed by plenty of the stuff out there in the cyberspace and virtual reality worlds. We need to take much of it with plenty grains of salt. The most important thing in our lives is still, and will always be the WORD OF GOD! Now here’s a passage of scripture that describes God’s instruction to the Israelites, in terns of our Bit, re idolaters, way back when. ‘If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom (you cherish), or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh (near) unto thee, or far off from thee, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent (yield) unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him. But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die, because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more such wickedness as this is among you.’ (Deut.13:6-11) Oh Friends, it does seem a bit harsh, but it’s God’s Word and shows how serious He is about His supremacy and enticements to sin, especially worshipping idols and other so-called gods. So my people, in this mad rush to cyberspace and virtual reality, let’s not forget what is truly important in our lives – the WORD OF GOD – for if we do, we’ll certainly pay a hefty penalty for it – eternal separation from Almighty God. Much LOVE!…remember the first Commandment…Thou shalt have no other gods before me… (Ex.20:3)