I have a confession. I'm addicted to my Blackberry. If you don't have one you may not identify but trust me, it's addictive. Maybe that's why some affectionately call it the "Crack" berry. It's like a drug. Now, I know there are those of you out there with your I-phones and your Droids that would beg to differ. Yes, you have more apps, bigger touch screens, cooler graphics...I get all that. But my Blackberry has one thing that sets it apart. A little blinking red light. Yep. For me that's what blows all of the competition out of the water.
I guess I'm not really addicted to the Blackberry as much as I am to that little blinking light. Whenever I get a text or someone sends me an email, that little red light on the top right corner of the phone blinks to let me know I have something waiting. And I have to admit, I've developed a bit of a co-dependent relationship with it. It needs me to keep it's battery charged, and I need it for the sense of belonging it gives me. It blinks to say someone cares, someone needs me. It reminds me that I'm important to someone out there. It provides me with a sense of connectedness, like a guiding beacon, a lifeline. If I go too long without seeing the little red light I begin to feel, well, isolated, lonely. Okay, maybe I need an intervention. Is there a Blackberry 12 step program?
You know, I wish there was a little red blinking light on the top corner of my Bible. A light letting me know when God has something He wants me to hear. A blinking light alerting me to just the right scripture I need at the right time for the particular circumstance or trial I'm going through. Wouldn't that be awesome?! Kind of a spiritual Blackberry if you will. I want one of those, don't you?
Wait a minute, in a way it already exists. In fact, David owned one. Talk about a man ahead of his times! In Psalms 43, David writes:
"Oh, send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me: let them bring me to Your holy hill, and to your tabernacle." - Psalms 43:3
David wasn't asking for a spiritual Blackberry, he had one. In a sense, it was as if he was holding it in his hands waiting, asking, pleading for the light to start blinking. His focus was glued there. You might say he was a little addicted to it, a little dependent on it. It brought him a sense of connection, a sense of being in relationship with God. It was a guiding beacon in his life when everything around him was in turmoil.
Jesus came that you and I could have access to our own spiritual Blackberry. In John 16, He told His disciples,
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." - John 16:12 - 14
In sending His Holy Spirit, He gave us a powerful blinking light to guide us into all truth. To connect us to Him. To be our Comforter, our Teacher. To bring us into remembrance of all that He has taught us in His word, when we need it the most. His spirit is the blinking red light of our spiritual Blackberries. And if we just get in tune with it; allow ourselves to become dependent on it; let it be our guiding beacon; let it be our lifeline - we'll never feel isolated or alone.
So maybe my love for the little red blinking light on my Blackberry is a bit unhealthy. I'll work on it. But, I think you'll agree, being dependent on the guiding light of our spiritual Blackberry is a healthy addiction worth feeding the rest of our lives.
"Send out your light and truth! Let them lead me to your holy hill..."
Translation: C'mon light, start blinking!
I guess I'm not really addicted to the Blackberry as much as I am to that little blinking light. Whenever I get a text or someone sends me an email, that little red light on the top right corner of the phone blinks to let me know I have something waiting. And I have to admit, I've developed a bit of a co-dependent relationship with it. It needs me to keep it's battery charged, and I need it for the sense of belonging it gives me. It blinks to say someone cares, someone needs me. It reminds me that I'm important to someone out there. It provides me with a sense of connectedness, like a guiding beacon, a lifeline. If I go too long without seeing the little red light I begin to feel, well, isolated, lonely. Okay, maybe I need an intervention. Is there a Blackberry 12 step program?
You know, I wish there was a little red blinking light on the top corner of my Bible. A light letting me know when God has something He wants me to hear. A blinking light alerting me to just the right scripture I need at the right time for the particular circumstance or trial I'm going through. Wouldn't that be awesome?! Kind of a spiritual Blackberry if you will. I want one of those, don't you?
Wait a minute, in a way it already exists. In fact, David owned one. Talk about a man ahead of his times! In Psalms 43, David writes:
David wasn't asking for a spiritual Blackberry, he had one. In a sense, it was as if he was holding it in his hands waiting, asking, pleading for the light to start blinking. His focus was glued there. You might say he was a little addicted to it, a little dependent on it. It brought him a sense of connection, a sense of being in relationship with God. It was a guiding beacon in his life when everything around him was in turmoil.
Jesus came that you and I could have access to our own spiritual Blackberry. In John 16, He told His disciples,
In sending His Holy Spirit, He gave us a powerful blinking light to guide us into all truth. To connect us to Him. To be our Comforter, our Teacher. To bring us into remembrance of all that He has taught us in His word, when we need it the most. His spirit is the blinking red light of our spiritual Blackberries. And if we just get in tune with it; allow ourselves to become dependent on it; let it be our guiding beacon; let it be our lifeline - we'll never feel isolated or alone.
So maybe my love for the little red blinking light on my Blackberry is a bit unhealthy. I'll work on it. But, I think you'll agree, being dependent on the guiding light of our spiritual Blackberry is a healthy addiction worth feeding the rest of our lives.
"Send out your light and truth! Let them lead me to your holy hill..."
Translation: C'mon light, start blinking!