At the relatively young age of forty-five, Steve Phillips pretty much had it made. He had a beautiful wife, a couple of great kids, a nice home and a job that he loved. Despite growing up in a decidedly middle class family, Steve’s talent with all things electronic had made him an extremely successful man. It certainly didn’t hurt that he entered the industry right as the digital boom was beginning and that he had been a part of various teams that had developed major advances in photography, sound, communications and computer integration. At what was presumably the mid-point in his career, he and his staff were devoted to research and development; which allowed them to pretty much play with the technology, looking for new innovations. It was a dream job and Steve was truly grateful for it. He also appreciated the wonderful lifestyle that it afforded his family.
Though he was not a deeply religious man, Steve had been raised in a Christian home, married a Christian girl and their family regularly attended a local church. Though God was not a major topic of discussion at the dinner table, it was something that he and his wife wanted to weave into the fabric of their family life. From Steve’s perspective, one hour of church a week was a small price to pay for the sense of “eternal security” that it brought him. At work, he was discreet about his faith; understanding that many technically minded people didn’t share his particular view of such things. He felt pretty good about the balance he’d achieved with that until he one day overheard his thirteen year old son talking to a friend on the phone. Within that conversation his son said that he considered “The Jesus Story” to be nothing more than a legend that ancient people used as a way to make themselves feel better; and that the human race had advanced far beyond the need for such “fairy tales”. He also made the statement, “if there ever really was a God, the power of the human mind has rendered Him obsolete!” Steve shuddered at the idea that this is what his son had derived from his upbringing, but he wasn’t really sure what he ought to do about it. The more he thought about it, the more troubling it became to him; and eventually he grew worried enough to actually start praying. As he whispered for help beneath his breath, his discomfort in speaking to an unseen God started to evaporate, as an idea slowly began to creep into his head.
Steve decided not to let his son (Jason) know that he’d overheard his little commentary on God until after he’d followed through on his idea, which took a few weeks to put together. As he worked on the project, Steve often found himself talking to God in a way that he never had before and though he wasn’t really sure what it all meant, it somehow made God seem more real to him. He was excited as he wrapped the finished product up in a packing box on a Friday morning and made arrangements for Jason to receive the package the next day. On Saturday, when the doorbell rang, Steve smiled to himself and asked his son to get the door. Jason was so excited about getting the package that he practically pulled it out of the delivery man’s hands and tore the box open without bothering to look for a return address. He was even more excited when he found that it contained what looked to be a laptop computer. The only thing that kept him from being sure that it was a laptop was that the machine had absolutely no markings on it. Even the keyboard had no markings on the keys. As Jason closely examined the machine, he heard his father’s voice from the other room, “Who was at the door Jason?”
Jason bounded into the living room, both perplexed and excited, as he told Steve about his special delivery and showed him the machine.
“Are you sure you read the label right; this looks like something that would be sent to me, not you” Steve said.
“Of course I read the label right” Jason snapped.
“OK, so who’s it from?” Steve shot back
Jason let out an impatient sigh, as he realized he hadn’t looked at that and his face turned red as he had to retrieve the box to check.
“Look Dad, it doesn’t have a return address.”
“Well maybe there’s some paperwork inside the box” Steve replied.
“No, there’s nothing; I already checked” he said impatiently, as he flipped the machine over.
“What are you looking for Jason” Steve inquired.
“I’m looking for the manufacturer information. Maybe we can look them up on the web and see if they can send us a manual for this thing” Jason replied.
“That’s a great idea son, what do see?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing; that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. How in the world do they expect me to run this stupid machine” Jason snorted.
“Well this was probably some sort of mistake, maybe we should just throw it away” Steve suggested.
“Are you crazy? Throw away a brand new machine. No way!” he replied.
“But what can you do with it?” Steve asked
With the wild-eyed confidence of a mad scientist, Jason proclaimed, “Just give me some time and I’ll figure this thing out!”
With that he was off to his bedroom, for what turned out to be most of the weekend. At times, Steve could hear him yell in frustration at what a stupid machine it was and at other times, Jason would come out doing a little victory dance over something he’d discovered. During the exuberant times he’d say, “We don’t need no stinking manual!” but in the frustrating times he’d moan, “How am I supposed to do anything without a manual?” This cycle continued until late Sunday evening, when Steve asked him to bring the machine to the dining room. As Jason came in, he looked a little haggard and more frustrated than excited. He showed Steve what he’d been able to figure out on his own, which was actually pretty impressive; but clearly he wasn’t satisfied with it. When Jason finally plopped down in one of the dining room chairs, Steve asked, “So what’s the bottom line with this thing?”
With a confused look on his face, Jason said, “The bottom line?”
“Yeah” replied Steve. “I mean is this a good machine or is it a piece of junk?”
“I don’t know!” Jason grunted. “It seems like it’s got some good features, but I’m not really sure what it can do.”
“So if you keep messing with it, do you think you could figure out what it’s capable of?” Steve asked.
“I’m sure I could figure out some stuff” Jason replied. “But I doubt I could ever figure out everything it could do without some more information from the manufacturer.”
“So I’m pretty good with computers, do think I could figure it out?” Steve pressed
“You could do better than me, but there are some things that you’d probably never find unless you talked to the guy who designed this thing” Jason replied.
Steve smiled and playfully said, “Ya think so?”
Jason half smiled back and said, “Yeah, I think so.”
After a little pause, Steve asked, “So was messing with this thing all weekend fun or a waste of time?”
“I did have some fun, but now that I’ve blown a whole weekend on it, I think it was mostly a waste of time. I’m definitely frustrated with it. I just wish I knew where it came from and why it was sent to me” he said.
“How would you feel if I told you that I sent it to you?” Steve asked.
“What” Jason blurted. “Why would you do that?”
“To teach you something about life” Steve replied.
“About life? I don’t get it; what are you talking about?” Jason growled in confusion
“I wanted to illustrate for you that human beings are incredibly complex machines” Steve said.
“Like this laptop?” Jason retorted
“Yes and like this laptop, their buttons and controls don’t come with labels on them” Steve continued. “And while we can play with those things for a while and figure out a few things, we’ll never really find out what we’re capable of unless we go back and consult the One who created us.”
“You mean God?” Jason asked sheepishly.
“Yes, I mean God” Steve replied. “You see Jason, you get to believe whatever you choose about God, but if you decide to live as though He has become ‘obsolete’, you’ll spend your whole life doing what you did this weekend. You’ll punch buttons and see what happens; hoping that something good will come from it, but never really knowing for sure. Honestly, that’s how most people live; and if that’s the way you decide to go, at the end of your life, you’ll probably feel just like you do now; like it was all just a waste of time. But if you believe that God is real and seek His guidance, it could be like what might have happened if you and I would have sat down together with this thing and I could’ve shown you all the incredible features I built into it.”
“But I didn’t know you built it” Jason said defensively.
As Steve stood to his feet he said, “That’s true, there was no way you could have known that I was the one who designed it; but make no mistake Jason, you were not simply hatched or some sort of pleasant biological accident; you were also created. And if that’s the case, then it follows that you must have a ‘Creator”. Like me this weekend, He stands at the ready to help when you ask Him and unlike me, He took the time to provide a manual.” At that moment Steve placed a copy of the Bible on the table in front of Jason.
Jason looked at the book with an expression of disdain and said, “So what am I supposed to do with this laptop?”
“I want you to keep it” Steve replied.
“For what?” Jason asked.
“To remind you of what it’s like to live life as though you’ve become too technologically advanced to need help and to let the limitations of your own mind become your boundaries for living” he replied.
“So I’m just supposed to let it sit in my room and be some sort of symbol?” Jason asked.
“Well, that’s up to you. Just like what it symbolizes, you have the choice to do something with it or to blow it off. If you’ll take the time to get with me, I can assure you that this little machine has some one of a kind features that you’ll really love. If you decide to go it alone, you may or may not discover some of them; or you can simply ignore the whole thing and wonder about what you might have missed. In the end, it’ll be whatever you decide.”
Steve walked to the doorway and turned back to his son. “Jason, you know that I love you and you may not appreciate how I went about this, but it’s important that you think about what I am trying to teach you. It will make all the difference in your life.”
Steve stepped out of the dining room to give Jason some space. He hoped that it would allow Jason’s defensiveness to wane. He prayed that God would help his son to see the truth, but he knew that God wouldn’t take away Jason’s ability to choose his own path. Steve really didn’t expect Jason to say much after that, so he was surprised when Jason came to say goodnight. Though he was still a little tentative, he did hug his father and told him that he loved him. As he headed for the stairs, he turned back and asked, “Dad, are you busy tomorrow night?”
“I don’t think so son; what did you have in mind?” Steve asked.
“I was hoping that maybe we could get into some of those ‘one of a kind’ features you were talking about” Jason replied with a smile.
Steve smiled back at him and said, “I’d love that son”.
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