Updates after updates, they keep on coming! Nothing stays the same! New! Improved! Better than ever! From my technology devices, where I’ve probably had thousands of updates in the past forty years, to my cars, clothes, food, and living conditions. Even our Bibles have been updated!
Life is nothing, it would seem if it were not about updates!
Can you imagine only picking music at your favorite music store where they are just starting to introduce 8-tracks or cassettes? Go ahead, stand in line for the latest. I’ll buy it on the internet and have it on my device in seconds! That’s an update!
My 2003 Dodge Ram 1-ton diesel 4WD four-door truck is sadly outdated. I’ve updated the stereo to plug in my phone, listen to music, and have a backup camera installed. Three hundred sixty thousand miles this week needs more updates than you can shake a stick at if you want to compare to its $100,000 new counterpart of this decade!
But let me see an old car rumbling by; I’m ready to toss the updates and go back in time to a simpler car-driving experience. Standard, clutches, shifting on the tree…wait! I still want my A/C, updated suspension, drive train, and gas mileage!
Updates, Then, More Updates: Updates after updates, they keep on coming! Nothing stays the same! New! Improved! Better than ever! …. Are you ready for more updates? Click To TweetHold on! Maybe I need a hybrid experience. A little of the old, toss in some of the new, and let me choose my ride from memories! Update my 1971 Dodge Swinger, and I will be a happy camper!
Updates! News Flash! Pandemic Alert! Breaking story! From our Eye in the Sky! Arent’ we growing tired of updates?
Not Stuck In The Past
Life, as with Learning, is a constantly moving experience. As your world keeps changing, you must change with it. Knowledge is not static. We grow with it as we move from the easy stuff to the knee-deep experience and finally into swimming the deep! (Ezekiel 47:1-5)
I keep learning, so I must keep updating my databank and experience.
Every so often, it’s good to drop back into the good ol’ times and enjoy something from the past, but you cannot live there. I did that yesterday. Tired of all the new things I had to read, I dropped back into my library, dusted off an older volume, and enjoyed passing a few minutes on my day off. The story unfolded as if new yet familiar. The vague memories of a past read helped me appreciate the story again.
That’s the way it is when I read my Bible! Especially when it’s an actual page-turning experience. There’s something about moving forward with the knowledge encased from the past as your foundation. Now. Imagine a time when past knowledge is lost, only to be found, and the joy of the re-reading causes you to feel anguish. (2 Kings 22:11)
Though we review the past and sometimes enjoy the old stories, life is about moving forward.
End of the Story
How do we feel when we finally reach the end of the story?
Sadness? Satisfaction? Wishing for more?
That’s what the Acts of the Apostles book does in the Bible. It reaches the ending, and suddenly there’s no more story. Why? The main characters are gone into history. Suddenly, there’s no one to write the next chapter. It’s time to bring in new players and experiences and add to the story. The story of the founding church, which turned the world upside down, ends with these two verses.
Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house,
and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
Acts 28:30-31 NKJV
That’s where the story’s next chapter begins. Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?
Updates. Updates. More updates! Who gets to write them? The ones who are involved in the story, or retelling the history!
It t’ain’t over until it’s over!
My Thought This Morning
I believe as a story ends, a new chapter begins. When we conclude all is done, it’s about who steps into the story and keeps it going. Is a life gone? Keep the memory alive and tell the stories that build the future. Don’t paint rosy pictures of perfect colors. Tell the truth. The hardships and downtimes help others to know you can persevere and make it through.
Perhaps the most prolific Gospel story is found in Luke and Acts. It’s written by the same author. Since he’s a traveler with the Apostle Paul, we can only imagine that he is telling the story as he hears it from the most prolific missionary and letter writer of the New Testament!
Imagine the Apostle Paul reaching his ending. He is under guard, awaiting an audience with Caesar, even though it’s in his rented house. Incapable of taking new missionary journeys. What would you do? Paul kept preaching and teaching. When we look at the New Testament, we can also glean that he kept communicating by writing letters.
Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house,
and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
Acts 28:30-31 NKJV
It’s time for an Acts 29 story! Updates!
Maybe that’s why blogging has become important for me. The day will come when my story will end with my last breath. No more new blogs, but should these words last, my story never ends. No updates? Who will be the next to pick up from where I leave off? That’s my focus.