The Sobering Truth —

As I was reading an article from the magazine Popular Communications I was reminded of some remarkable events in our modern world. To me, one of the most impressive is that the mystery of the human genome has been uncovered. We can now read it! The map of human physical creation has been laid out! Scientists working with it hope that a number of diseases can be combated through this discovery. I hope that is true, but it also makes me wonder about the dark side of human nature. So many human advancements seem to also come with the risk of great evil.

Psalm 102:25-27 states of God: “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.”

God never changes. Although we may now be able to read our genes, we don’t have the ability to change our genes in meaningful ways. We certainly cannot create new genes out of nothing. What we do as creations of God, is to study His work, learn from it, and put its principles into practice. We must never think we are great just because we get to study the work of the Almighty.

Pride is an ever-present problem in our human lives. We see it today, and we see it in our Bible reading this month. King Saul ends up failing miserably at the kingship of Israel. Why? He lets his pride get in the way. David had a much better way of handling the kingship. He sought God regularly and remained open to being corrected. He wanted to grow in God.

We must also think carefully about who we are and what God has called us to do. Though we have the technology to read the genome, may I suggest that our greatest benefit will come from reading the Bible. We will grow in God through reading the Word, praying, and practicing our faith. This will keep our mind in the right place as we navigate our lives. Thank God for the Holy Spirit’s presence!

As we read this month about the great victories and failures of Israel’s kings let’s remember that we are human just like they were. The lessons taught through their lives are extremely valuable to our lives.