What Will You Do With What You Have?

I’ve been following the news updates on tropical storm Daniel this week. Daniel is situated in the Pacific Ocean and has been heading directly for the Hawaiian Islands. He was scheduled to hit the islands today.

There is an Internet web site called surfinglive.com that has four live cameras that pan back and forth on Waikiki, Sunset, and Bonzai Pipeline beaches streaming a live video picture to my computer. I decided to log on and check out the storm. I brought the site up expecting to see heavy rain and big surf. The waves were somewhat bigger than usual, but the sun was out and people were out enjoying themselves. It looked like business as usual.

Curious about what happened to the storm, I decided to click onto the website of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, the online edition of Honolulu’s afternoon newspaper. Sure enough, the front-page article was about Daniel. It seems it gained strength and is once again near hurricane force, but has slowed its progress and won’t get to Oahu until tomorrow.

What’s the point of all this? I guess the thing that amazes me most is the fact that we take for granted the fact that we are able to do this kind of thing now. Think about it! I can sit here in my recliner, turn on my little laptop computer, and check the surf around the world. I can read newspapers from around the world. I can send instant messages back and forth to someone else anywhere in the world. I can listen to radio stations from around the world. I can do all this, and much, much more.

The technology that we have developed has given us the ability to do truly amazing things. I think it’s just as amazing how quickly we adapt to the new technology. We become so jaded that the miraculous quickly becomes commonplace. We take these marvels for granted and keep looking for the next “miracle”. It certainly takes a lot to impress our over-stimulated culture nowadays. Instead of being appreciative, we feel entitled. Never before have people had so much. Never before have people expected so much from life.

Something that crosses my mind from time to time is the thought of personal responsibility for all that we have at our fingertips. Jesus said, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48)

Whenever I think about all the things that are in our power to do, I wonder about our responsibility for those things. We have technology. So what are we going to do with it? And this principle applies to the simple things in life as well. If you can walk, where will your feet take you? Is there somewhere the Lord wants you to go? If you can speak, what will you say? Is there someone the Lord wants you to talk to? Will your words bring encouragement and hope? If you can see, what will you look at? If you have hands, what will they do?

All of these things are blessings. And with each blessing comes a responsibility to use them in a way that glorifies God. Life is about growing, becoming, and sharing, not just having. Live on purpose. Solomon said, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might… (Eccl. 9:10)