SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS ON TECHNOLOGY, ALARM, AWAKENINGS
If you want to know what really makes people tick, perhaps one way is to follow the latest trends — check out the newest gadgets and gizmos hitting the marketplace. For example, one company recently released an alarm clock designed for those who would like to wake to something other than the traditional music, beeps, chimes or chirps found on most alarms. With this new clock, among the many things you can select to wake to is an up-to-the-minute display of your estimated life expectancy! And if you think about it, the success or failure of this gadget might ultimately rest on just how people use this information.
For those interested, the wi-fi equipped alarm clock can be fully customized. For example, worried about your bottom line? You can set the alarm to display your current bank balance when you wake each morning. Are you following the stock market? You can set the clock to display a quote for a particular trade. How about a good morning tally of the number of friends you have on social networking sites? It can do that too. And then there’s the ultimate stat — your projected life expectancy displayed in years, days and minutes!
As a great conversation piece, this gadget may be worth having. But I can think of much better ways to awaken us to the start of a fresh new day! That is… unless the countdown clock awakens us to the reality that every second, every minute, every hour offers us a new opportunity — an opportunity to treasure the things that truly make our lives worth living. To treasure the things that will not fail… “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk. 12:33,34).
