I am thankful for the birth of Jesus for many reasons.
I was reminded of one when reading Discover magazine’s December issue of the top 100 science stories of 2014. This past year was amazing. We actually landed a probe on a comet. We froze light. We arrived at many new understandings.
And the Universities of Virginia and Harvard gave us better insight into our minds.
They locked college students, one at a time, in an empty room. They were not allowed cell phones, iPads, or devices of any kind. Could they handle 15 minutes of nothing to do? If the student got too bored, the one and only thing they could do was push the single button in the room.
The drawback was that each time they did, it gave them an electric shock. 75% of the men and a large percentage of the women pushed the button with many of them pushing it repeatedly. In fact, one man pushed it 190 times in his 15 minutes in the room.
The experiment is a comment on how attached we have become to our technology. It is also a reflection of how much we hate boredom. Pain is preferable to 15 minutes of boredom.
And that’s one of the reasons I give thanks for the birth of Jesus.
There are many but one is for what he has done and is doing about boredom.
Jesus came to this earth to give us a purpose. The baby Jesus will grow up and tell us that he calls us friends and invites us into his plans.
He reminds us that mere employees might not know what the boss is doing. But he has elevated us above that by revealing the strategy and choosing us to participate. We never have to just sit in our rooms twiddling our thumbs. We have a reason to be here.
But he has done far more. Listen to his words:
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3
Heaven is being prepared by Jesus.
This is the same Jesus who made us and knows how we feel about boredom! This is the same Jesus who created the Arctic and Florida. This is the same Jesus who created whales and butterflies and millions of species of life on this planet. This is the same Jesus who gave us bodies that can throw footballs and play guitars and dance.
Know this. Heaven will not be floating on the clouds with nothing to do. There will be purpose.
There will be new sights and new experiences and new relationships to discover. Jesus knows us. He was born on this earth and now calls us friend. Give thanks that he has not abandoned us to boredom!
Kenai Fellowship
■ Wednesday meal at 6:15, worship at 7
■ Sunday Bible classes for all ages 10
■ Sunday coffee at 10:45; worship at 11:15