"....Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
(Daniel 12:4)
I am sitting in a large chair at a Starbucks, people coming and going, "to and fro," lattes, coffee cakes, all mostly "to go." Where are they going? Why the hurry? On my first Bible running trip to Eastern Europe, we stopped at an autobahn rest stop near Wurtzburg, Germany. It was sort of like the old American "Howard Johnson's." I asked for a coffee to go, and, bless her heart, the clerk had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. When I finally got some sort of explanation through, she said, "Oh, no. Sit down, enjoy." The thought ran through my mind. "May the German never get go mugs!"
It seems as though there is a definite connection between, "to and fro," and, "knowledge shall increase." But this pursuit of "knowledge," the pursuit of faster and better has produced little which has benefited most of mankind. It seems to me that we are just producing more and more self-centeredness and greed, a sort of Frankenstein Monster which has turned on us. Even "ministry" needs to be bigger, better, and faster. Frankly there is no better worship, no better preaching and teaching, or better churches now than there were when I grew up in the 40's and 50's. (My Dad still holds the number one best sermon on The Cross of Jesus I have ever heard!) Modern "speed" and technology will never improve the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Try this. Leave your go mug home tomorrow. Don't get lunch at a "drive-through." Take the time to watch and listen, maybe even with that person who seems to want to go on and on about nothing. They may be a despondent Believer, or a desperate soul looking for Jesus. Remember, "That person who brings [a person] back to God will have saved a wandering soul from death, bringing about the forgiveness of his many sins." (James 5:20--LB) I don't think a "runner" can do this.
Father, in Jesus' Name, in this "knowledge-shall-increase" culture, may my love for You and my fellow man be that which increases! Amen.
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