"Dumb and Empty"

"Therefore the people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them." (Psalms 73:10) Do you see a pattern developing here? "Misery loves company," that's what my mother would always say. There seems to be something to that term, "It Takes a Village," because there is always this mentality of "The More the Merrier" when it comes to sinful living. I have no doubt that we are living in the last days. Not just because the world is getting dumber; more than that, the world is getting closer and closer to artificial life. It might not seem like that is a factor, but it points right to the heart of man's rebellion against God. You might be wondering how the world can be getting dumber on the one hand, but more technical on the other; but it's the technology that's getting smarter, not the people. You could ask me what my mother-in-law's phone number is, and the only answer you would get is Mary, because I honestly don't know, even though I call her on her phone every other day. No doubt you have heard the term, "Use It or Lose It," because it is all about the brain when it comes to retaining knowledge. We are simply getting more and more hooked on the Cloud and less and less dependent upon retention. There is something here, I promise you that there is; I am just setting things up for what comes next. As you are all aware, "Therefore" is a word that makes us ask the question, "What is it there for?" The writer has been setting the stage for a whole lot of "nothingness." He starts out speaking about how "God is good to Israel," and then goes into this testimony of being causeg to stumble because of the "prosperity of the wicked," moving into their corruption and pride, which then leads to them leading others into their wicked manner of living; and now we come to the fruit, nothingness! What were we expecting to see? Where were we expecting to be taken? How will it all end? These are the questions that are good to ask in the beginning, not after having bought into something that leads to nowhere. Nowhere good, that's for sure! Driving down from the mountains yesterday, and listening to Dr. Chuck speaking about God's visible attributes, I could not help looking out over the horizon and seeing the beauty of the mountains. In almost a moment, I was fortified in my spirit of God's presence and His greatness. It was as if the hills came alive to demonstrate the power of God and the weakness of man. Driving in a car around those curves, and seeing the metal nets on the cliffs holding the rocks back from the highway, might have contributed to the moment; but when you realize how great and powerful God must be, there really is nothing else quite like it...   "But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, "LORD, who has believed our message?" So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have: "The message has gone throughout the earth, and the words to all the world." But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said, "I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation. I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles." And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying, "I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me." But regarding Israel, God said, "All day long I opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious." (Romans 10:16-21) NLT