Seek The Lord

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Scripture: Isaiah 55:6-7 (ESV)

6  “Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

  7     let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

       let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Devotion:

            With these words, Isaiah seeks to help us repent of our wicked thoughts and actions and turn to the Lord to seek His compassion and pardon. Isaiah notes that the Lord is near to his original audience. How much closer is God through the Holy Spirit to us? We, as Christians, have the Holy Spirit residing within each of us. While we sometimes ignore or actively resist the promptings of the Spirit, nevertheless, God dwells within us, ready to act on our behalf.

            Today's world blithely ignores God, seeking the technological advances in science to give us the answers we need. However, our machines will never replace the true intimacy that can only be found between God and His beloved creations-humans. Artificial Intelligence need not be feared for its own sake. While it is true, like every other one of our technological innovations, it can be put to evil use. That does not mean that all A.I. is evil. The goodness or evilness of any piece of technology depends on the soul of the person operating it, as a technology A. I. can do wonderful things in the right hands or tremendous evil in the wrong hands.

            This devotion is being written with the help of an artificial intelligence grammar editor. Without it, many spelling, punctuation, or other grammar errors would creep into my writing. (It seems I must have been in a coma when my teachers and professors  covered correct comma use.) As a tool, my A.I. editor saves me countless unnecessary errors. As long as it remains a tool for me to use, it will be helpful. One must always be wary that it could be using me as a tool to forward the purposes of the humans that created it.

            Returning to our scriptural text for today, In it we find the encouragement we need to face technological advances. Always seek the Lord in all you do. Forsake evil uses of technology. Use AI like any other tool. Loyola University Chicago has a Latin motto that says, “For the greater glory of God.” I fervently wish that we all think about the rapid technological advances coming our way and seek to adopt them to build the body of Christ. Let us pray that it may be so, and let us be inspired by technology's immense potential to serve God's purpose.

Prayer:

            Lord, it seems technological inventions are being announced daily. The pace of technological change is staggering, from smartphones to social media platforms and from artificial intelligence to virtual reality. Human capabilities to absorb all this change are being stretched beyond the breaking point. Help us, Lord, recognize and use these inventions wisely to spread the gospel worldwide. Let us oppose new technologies that draw people apart and polarize them. We admit to our need for repentance and forgiveness over the wrong uses of technology we have perpetrated on others. Please help us bring peace into the world as we seek to grow your kingdom. 

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