My son sent me a devotional thought for a blog post (which I shared in the last blog post). I was needing a photo to go with the post, so I went searching through our family Teams Messages to find the photo which my son had sent me last summer of the yellowjackets he had caught in his yellowjacket trap.
I knew it was last summer that he and my daughter-in-law were having yellowjacket troubles in their attic … but I couldn’t remember exactly when. Back … and back … and back I scrolled through our family Teams Messages.
There were messages of things I had totally forgotten about. There were prayer requests for health issues. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. God totally answered those prayers! And I’ve already forgotten about it.
There were prayer requests for job concerns. God totally answered those prayers too! Wow, God has been so good!
I scrolled past the very first photos of bunny … way back before my daughter adopted bunny, when her good friends were trying to convince her to adopt bunny. Whoa! Look how small and tiny bunny was back then!
There were encouraging songs which were shared. Oh, yeah … I forgot about that song. There were jokes which were shared. Oh, yeah … that was funny!
I came across all the updates of when hubby and I were trying to sell the house for our aging parents last summer. Oh wow, my mind has totally blocked all that out. But there it was … all of it, still there in our family Teams Messages. Lots of drama. The first offer fell through at the last minute, on Closing Day … after we had already done lots of repair/fix-it issues from the home inspection. Concerns of homeless people moving into the vacant house and squatting. Creepy trailer suspiciously parked across the street. Back yard dug up with a backhoe to have the 40-yr-old empty septic tank filled in with dirt. etc. etc. etc.
Scrolling and scrolling back through the messages … scrolling back through time.
It’s all still there …
We forget about what has happened in the past … the little everyday things that comprise our hours and moments. We forget about that encouraging text we sent to someone. We forget about that note of appreciation we emailed to someone. We totally forget that we did that kind thing for that person.
We forget about the prayer requests we desperately prayed for … which God answered. We forget.
By the same token, we forget about that critical comment we made. We forget about that rude remark. We don’t even recognize that condescending attitude we had. That hateful thing we did toward someone else, it didn’t impact us … and we totally forget about it.
But it’s all still there …
It was very sobering to me scrolling back through time in our family Teams Messages and seeing that every interaction I’ve had with my kids is all still there. It still exists.
Here you can see a walking path hubby and I walked this past Sunday afternoon. This is the view looking back in the direction from where we just came. This path could represent, for each of us, our life.
Looking back, we’ve already traveled that portion of our life’s “path.” We can’t go back. That portion of our life is over … we’ve passed that way never to pass that way again.
Looking back down the path from where we’ve just come, we can still see part of the path. The rest of the path which we formerly walked is hidden from our view. But that doesn’t mean the former path is no longer there. The path is still very much there. It still very much exists.
So also, it is the same when it comes to each of our lives. We can look back over our last couple of days … and we can clearly see this portion of our life’s “path” which we’ve just walked. But scrolling further back down the “path of life” we can’t really “see” it anymore.
Even though we can’t see what we did in the past … what we did is still very much there.
For example: It is time once again at hubby’s work for hubby’s annual employee review. Hubby must first create a document about how he considers himself to have done during this past year. Did he accomplish the stated goals and objectives for his position? Was he a good employee based on what he accomplished?
This Annual Review document then goes to hubby’s boss, who fills out a similar document based on their view of hubby’s performance. A meeting is then had between hubby and his boss.
In our new world of AI, hubby asked AI to create the document about whether or not he accomplished the stated goals and objectives for his position. In just a few seconds AI had generated a very accurate report of everything hubby has done in his work role for the past year.
The AI response was based on all of the emails, texts, PowerPoint presentations, all meetings which hubby has been in over the past year (all of which were recorded and stored and analyzed) and any digital data related to hubby and what he has done in his work over the past year.
It’s all there. AI is watching all of it. Who did hubby meet with? What did he say in every interaction? What success was he able to accomplish? How fast was he able to get his tasks done?
And in just a matter of seconds, AI generated a report which was completely accurate and thorough … detailing how hubby had succeeded in accomplishing the stated goals and objectives for his position.
In a way, AI is almost like a counterfeit of God … in that, AI is “omniscient” and all-knowing when it comes to any digital data associated with any person’s life, anywhere in the world.
The music we listen to on our digital devices … AI knows and is keeping track of it all.
The podcasts we listen to on our digital device … AI knows and is keeping track.
The movies we watch on our tv’s and digital devices … AI knows and is keeping track. AI knows our viewing preferences. AI knows when we watch … for how long we watch … and what we are most likely to watch if given suggestions.
Everything we’ve ever watched … it’s all still there. No matter how long ago in the past we watched it. It’s all still there.
The text messages and emails we send to people … AI knows what we send, who we send it to, etc. etc. … AI is keeping track of it. It’s all still there. No matter how long ago in the past it was sent. It’s all still there.
The social media sites we go to … how long we scroll … what we look at most often and for how long … AI knows and is keeping track of it all. It’s all still there.
Our vehicles with our “Map App” connected … AI knows everywhere we go, when we go, when we go to which places, how long we stay, etc. It’s all there. AI knows and is keeping track of it all.
Hubby and I were chatting last night about how it is quite possible that AI might possibly be the “Beast” (mentioned in Revelation 13) which gives the Antichrist his power during the end times.
Whatever the case, if AI (in our current world right now ) has the power to know everything about everyone … and instantaneously generate a report which is accurate, thorough, and complete about everything every person has ever done … then this gives us a really good picture of what it will be like when we stand before our Maker and give an account for everything we’ve ever done in our life.
“For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: ‘”As surely as I live,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.”’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” – Romans 14:10-12
Jesus speaking: “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” – Matthew 12:36-37
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:13
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
“Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.” – Revelation 20:11-15
In looking at this beautiful photo of the walking path hubby and I walked this past Sunday afternoon, you might notice the beautiful flowers blooming alongside the path.
As we each walk our own “path of life” each day, we can “plant flowers” and “water the flowers” as we travel our “life’s path” … so that, as we look back over our “life’s path” it’s beautiful all along the way with the beauty of kindness and faithfulness and patience and goodness.
But perhaps we have been unkind in previous portions of our “life’s path.” Perhaps we have done things which were wrong and which we regret. Perhaps we have “sprayed poison” all along the way as we’ve traveled our “life’s path.” And perhaps looking back at our “life’s path” it might not be beautiful.
It’s not too late to ask Jesus for forgiveness. It’s not too late to repent.
It’s not too late to ask those whom we have hurt for forgiveness. It’s not too late to restore broken relationships. It’s not too late to have Jesus redeem our mistakes and forgive our failures.
If we repent of our sin (not just the big sins but every little “misstep” along our “life’s path”), Jesus will forgive us and will take every one of those sins away. They won’t be held against us anymore. The “path of life” behind us might already be droopy with the “poison” we sprayed in the past, but going forward Jesus will help us to sow flowers of kindness and beauty. Jesus will help us to “water the flowers” with goodness and truth and love.
And when we reach the final end of our “life’s path” where we stand before Jesus Christ to give an account of our life … those things which we repented of will no longer be there anymore. They won’t be held against us. They won’t still be there. Jesus has forgiven them and taken them away. They will not be on our record anymore.
