I love technology, don’t you? I’m glad that I’ve lived long enough to see computers become part of our daily lives, to have satellite dishes and video recorders give us freedom in what we choose to see when we want to see it, and to have, not only cell phones, but smart phones.
I think Steve Jobs is a genius and that the iPhone is one of the world’s greatest inventions. Apple has also released the iPad in recent months. I don’t really need an iPad, but I want one. Right now I’m trying to come up with an excuse that I can give Danielle so that she will not object to my buying one.
Apple developed the iPhone and iPad, and now thousands of innovative folks are developing “applications” that you can buy to use on your iPhone or iPad. These “applications” are affectionately called “apps” by those who develop and use them. What an “app” does is take the basic technology of the iPhone and work out a way to apply this technology to a specific need that people have. To date, over 150,000 “apps” have been developed. Over 3 billion have been purchased.
These “apps” help me do all kinds of things. I can read newspapers and magazines. I can watch the evening news on my iPhone whenever I want to do so. I can see how the stock market is doing any time during the day. I can check current weather conditions, the weather radar, and the forecast. The iPhone apps enable me to check or send email and text messages. I turn on one “app” when I go jogging, and my iPhone records my time, distance, and makes a map of the path I jog. At the end of the jog, I can post my time and distance to a web site to keep a permanent record of this info.
I can download music and messages to my iPhone. While I’m jogging, I can listen to music, or I can listen to sermons and seminary chapel services that feature the greatest preachers and Bible teachers of our day.
I can check my bank balance and pay bills from my iPhone. I can choose a route that I want to drive, and the “app” will give me turn-by-turn directions. The iPhone will find particular kinds of businesses for me, or take pictures and send them to friends. All of this comes by using the “apps” that are available.
What we really need in our Christian lives are more “apps.” We have this amazing Word that God has given us. We need to work on applying this Word to our lives. It is not enough to be impressed by the Word. We need to apply the truth of this Word in ways that will meet specific needs.
Unapplied truth is like unapplied paint. Without the application, neither is of much value. Some truths are like cans of Sherwin Williams paint sitting idly on the shelf at a store waiting for someone to apply them to a dull, faded, or rusting surface. Until the “app” is made, the cans of paint do not fulfill their destiny. How many “apps” have you developed in your Christian life?
