Sunlight Lessons on Sunday Morning

I was here at the building earlier than usual this morning. There were some things I needed to do before everyone arrived. As I walked into the auditorium, there was a sliver of sunlight that streamed through the stained glass windows. That light landed right across the plexiglas podium where I would speak in about an hour or so. Contrasted with that was the computer monitor that sits in front of the podium. In the sunlight you could see the cobwebs that had gathered around this piece of technology. It was quite a contrast, the light on the podium; the cobwebs on the monitor. We've come to rely an awful lot on machines and I'm the worst at that. I've got to have my cell phone, my computer is not far away from me, microwaves, fax machines, palm pilots, hand-held computers. In the sunlight in the quiet of this Lord's Day, it was almost as if God was saying to me, "Jim, the technology means nothing. Preach the Word." I stopped and prayed just that. That God would take my words and take me out of the way and allow God to go far beyond the technology of our day to hit the center of what really counts....relationships. Relationships with God, Jesus, the Spirit, relationships with our spouses, our children, our parents, our friends, the world. "I want to know Christ," is what Paul said. Indeed, we all want to know Him. Have a great day. JW