Out here in the boondocks of Middle Tennessee, about an hour south of Nashville, options for Internet access are minimal.
In the twenty years we’ve been here, we have tried all the options available, with varying degrees of success. By far, our most recent provider has been the best, who offered what they called “wireless direct internet.” This service was presented based on a line-of-sight capability with one of their cell towers. This we had. In fact, the tower stood in plain view just a half mile away, one ridge over. Most of our neighbors quickly signed up for this service as well.
The trouble began one morning just about a month ago. As was my daily routine, I poured myself a cup of coffee, sat at my desk, turned my computer on, and pulled my Bible down for my daily reading while it booted up. When I finished reading and turned to the computer, those ominous words greeted me on the screen: “No Internet Connection.”
In addition to no email or social media, I have two reasonably popular web pages requiring daily administration and maintenance. Our household was lost and in Internet withdrawal. Several calls for service yielded absolutely zero results. And then, five days later, the cell tower simply disappeared. One minute it was there; the next minute it wasn’t. Today, a month later, it has not returned. Neither has our Internet service from that provider. (Although we did get a bill for the month of supposed service they neglected to provide.)
We have now made other Internet arrangements and discovered a new option that is even better and cheaper than what we had. God is good!
However, for these past few weeks, we have learned exactly how much the Internet has invaded and ingrained itself in our daily lives. To suddenly be without it was a shock to the system.
It made me wonder what it would be like to suddenly not have access to another essential support system: the love and truth of the Word of God. While we know of the Bible’s ban around the world in Muslim and Communist countries, did you know it has also been banned here in the United States? Yep, a Utah school district has banned the Bible from its libraries.
What worries me even more than the outright banning of the Bible, is the subtle altering of the Word by clever artificial intelligence programs. These AI programs have already begun to produce Bibles that change the message of pure loving truth to one that supports particular false agendas.
It has become imperative for me to get the Word of God indelibly in my heart. Bible study, which I admit has not always been one of my highest priorities, has taken on a new urgency. The day is coming when what’s ingrained in my heart and mind may be the only place I can find the true Word of God.
Is the Word of God safely ingrained in your heart?
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
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Kevin Spencer likes to play with words, help others play with them, and is privileged to be a staff writer for Christian Devotions. He lives with his beautiful blessing of a wife, Charlotte, and his amazing collegiate grandson, Caleb.