Electricity — Not Needed, Not Wanted
Revelation 22:1-5
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
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If I never had to stare at another screen again, I wouldn’t be unhappy. I’m tired of staring at screens — TV, computer, iPhone, iPad. I could not have imagined that the few hours of TV viewing we had back in my early years of growing up would expand into a constant, overwhelming monstrous black hole that has swallowed us up into its life-sucking grasp …
As I once again sit staring at this screen, typing letters that magically appear before me while I do “the work of the Lord.” I don’t know, somehow that just doesn’t seem … right?
And while I’m contemplating all of this, my mind goes to this random thought:
How in the world did Adam manage to name all the animals without the instantaneous guidance of our favorite new friend, The Screen? A world without Google, one can only imagine.
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I’m finally in Revelation. As I’ve mentioned before, I start at Genesis and read through to Revelation. I’ve been doing that for the last four decades. Every time I finish a cycle I marvel how that after all these years this supernatural Book still speaks with amazing freshness and relevance. It seems like new stuff keeps popping up. It’s always been there; I just haven’t always “seen” it.
That’s what happened going through Revelation this time. So I decided to park in Revelation and read it a few times in a row. I’m on the third time.
As I finished up the second time a phrase caught my attention in an unexpected way. It’s the little phrase: “and they need no candle.”
As I read that, I did one of those little hit the brakes thing, screeched the tires, and backed up to take a second look at what I just passed. That statement, for the first time, brought joy to my heart in an unexpected and welcomed way.
I thought … wait a minute, “they need no candle.” In other words, no artificial lighting. NO ELECTRICITY.
And therefore, potentially, hopefully, and quite possibly — no electronic gadgets.
Wow. What a wonderful world and life that would be. Right?
The period described in Revelation 22 will not be sustained, nor maintained, by means of the devices that are so impactful to our way of life now. I can’t imagine anyone really wanting all of this to continue on then. Don’t you want to be free from all this stuff that has us in its vise-like grip?
I do.
The problem though, is that none of us presently living can even begin to conceptualize a world in which there was/is no electricity and no electronic gadgets. That way of life came and went before we emerged on the scene of this globe.
The hard reality is that we don’t know how to survive without being plugged into something. We can’t even begin to imagine what that would be like.
As I just wrote that, I could almost hear someone (I’m not immune either) saying, thinking, even panicking while contemplating a world like that …
What would I do with myself? How would I fill up my days? How would I be able to do, I don’t know, … anything?
You mean I’d actually have to talk, at length, with people, in an actual conversation, without pulling out my iPhone in the room, in the car, in the checkout line, in the school bus, at my desk, at my cubicle, at the table while I’m eating …?
How would I go anywhere without looking down and staring at my iPhone?
Could my neck actually straighten up to be able to walk looking forward?
Is there even life above eye level?
How will I … SURVIVE!?
And the truth is, you know I’m not overstating this. And you also know, as I do, how incredibly hard it is to pull ourselves out of this world of electronic stuff.
I don’t know about you but, I’m getting weary of it all. I don’t even long for my “good ‘ole days” anymore. They weren’t really all that good anyway — not when compared to the realities that await those longing for the return of their Messiah.
I noticed something my last time through Revelation I hadn’t seen before. It’s nothing really great or even all that significant. But, it did catch my attention.
It’s the two little words even so.
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” 1:7
“And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” 16:7
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” 22:20
For reasons unknown to me, these instances brought a hopeful note of assurance. As I thought about a world with no need for electricity along with all that comes with it, for a brief moment the clouds of this world parted. And for just a brief moment, the things of this life sort of lost their all consuming importance and significance.
Let me ask all of us a question that we need to honestly reflect upon.
Have we lost, to whatever degree, our wonder for Heavenly things? Has the temporal clouded the eternal?
Let me finish this up with these simple words from hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus first published in 1918.
1 ”O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Refrain:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
2 “Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion— For more than conqu’rors we are!
3 “His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!”
My plea is this:
That we as God’s people will hunger for the light of His glory and grace so that we’ll be able to look full in His wonderful face and thus enabling the things of this earth to grow strangely dim.
I want to see the wonders around me through His light rather than the faint artificial glow from the electronic portals in front of me. I long, even so, for those coming days.
Or … do I really?
Gotta run. Need to check my email.