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Topic: googled (04/10/14)
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TITLE: Searching: A Necessity for the Believer | Previous Challenge Entry
By Victoria Catron
04/16/14 -
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"I don't know. I was up all night. I was Googling her."
"Jeez, Frank, you Googled another man's wife?"
"Yeah. What do you think that means?"
"I don't know. Something dirty."
While it would be fairly easy to suggest perceived wrongs in this conversation from a biblical standpoint it might be more beneficial to look at it via another set of eyes. The obvious humor is garnered because of ignorance but an underlying thread is the factual basis for Frank's actions. The search engine Yahoo keeps a running list of what's "Trending Now" whether they are people, places or things. Yahoo News has an article posted by David Mielach called, "Americans Spend 23 Hours Per Week Online, Texting," which equals 14% of the time in a week. So what does this mean to a follower of Christ?
Maybe we should look to a few Facebook posts stating that we should get off it and read the Word of God. Are the aforementioned search engines and Facebook inherently wrong or evil? Not since they are only tools but we humans can definitely use them inappropriately. I'm not an activist who is against any of these websites but rather I want to use them as a comparison. I could ask how much we read our Bibles; 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV. I could ask if we desire God as much as the deer pants after the water (Psalm 42:1-2 KJV).
Instead let's look at a verse that seems to indicate searching may be a necessity for the believer in Christ. "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12 KJV)." If read by itself we might come to believe that we ourselves could decide exactly what salvation means, but the five verses directly before and the one after this verse clearly point to God, to Jesus as the author of our faith.
Then what does it mean to "work out our salvation"? Verses 14 through 18 show us that salvation is just the beginning of our life in Christ while our actions and words are the evidence that God is working in us. He will give us the opportunities to share our faith but we have to yield to Him and be willing to do what He asks.
Why the "with fear and trembling"? Simply put we have a testimony before unbelievers and we are told to be "blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke (vs. 15)." Knowing the weakness of our flesh (Matthew 26:42 KJV) and that we have an adversary who is the devil (1 Peter 5:8 KJV) we should be more fearful of the bondage of sin. Not only does God deserve this sanctification but by drawing close to God (James 4:7-10 KJV)we have the only way to be sure we can rejoice as Philippians 2:17-18 KJV desires.
Just like Admiral Frank Beardsley went to see Helen in person at the class reunion we need to go directly to the daily and even minute by minute source for all Christians. Searching for the truth is a good thing. The internet may make it easier and faster to find information but we need to be sure that our foundation is God and His Word.
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God Bless!
Later, when the comments were about studying the Bible, that part was clearer.
God's Holy Spirit within us should guide us so we are doing and being the person he wants us to be for the benefit of those around us.