All photos courtesy of Unsplash
I have learned a lot from my grandchildren. At the moment they are thirteen and fifteen and I have enjoyed watching them grow from tiny babies into active and curious teenagers. One of the things I have particularly loved about them was their curiosity. They have always been full of questions such as “Why does the sun go in and out?” and “Why does the moon change shape?” At the moment they think that grandpa knows everything. Well, almost everything.
Jacob, the younger of the two, did catch me out some years back when he was nine. We were travelling along the Mumbles Road at the time of a high tide when he came out with the question, “Grandpa, how much water is in the sea?”
I paused before answering. “A lot!” I replied.
He was not going to let me get away with that.
“I know, but how many litres is that?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t know.”
He was quiet for a couple of minutes, then came out with the answer.
“We could Google it!” Google! The source of all information.
Perhaps you remember the days before we had online information. Then, to many, the definitive source of information was the Encyclopaedia Britannica with its multiplicity of volumes. I only ever saw a complete set of the Encyclopaedia when I was in school and wondered at the time how long it would take to read them all, but now we have Google and therein lies a problem, for not all the information online is correct.
A few years ago when Mary Berry was stepping down as judge on the Great British Bake Off, I was searching for something online, when, quite by accident I stumbled across a hyperlink which said, “New judge appointed for the Great British Bake Off.”
I was intrigued, and so I clicked on it to see who was going to replace the legendary Mary Berry. The page I came on to had a large colourful picture of Mr Tumble complete with yellow bowler, red nose and spotted bow tie. For those of you unfamiliar with children’s TV, Mr Tumble is a modern version of Coco the Clown, and, yes, the page was a spoof.
Having said that, it was cleverly written and very convincing. It raises the question, how can we know what is right? Surrounded by conflicting opinions on the media and bombarded by everything on the internet, where can we find the truth.
The Bible tells us that truth is not found in a thing but in a person – The Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, He was not just the source of truth but could make a remarkable statement. In John 14 v 6 we read these words. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way the truth and the life.” It was not that Jesus spoke the truth or represented the truth. He claimed that He WAS the truth.
In this world of fake news when we are surrounded by some who would seek to deceive us, it is good to know the One who was and is totally trustworthy. No wonder, then, that millions down through the ages have trusted Him with their lives and committed their lives to Him.
Messages with Meaning (30/03/21) Written by Stephen Treseder for Your542Day
