by Jeff & Jana Family
Caller ID
Our son is a great young man, but you would have to argue pretty hard to convince me that he doesn’t check his Caller ID when he gets a call from us. Of course we’re grateful to hear his voice even if it’s just his e-mail greeting.
If you make a list of the most beneficial inventions of the 20th century, surely Caller ID would have to be included. It is empowering. Recipients now have has much control over who they talk to as those doing the dialing. Just think, with the ubiquity of cell phones the emerging generation will live their entire lives without suffering the angst of picking up that phone without knowing who is on the other end.
It never fails. We’ve just sat down for dinner and the phone rings. In the “good old days” we would more than likely answer the phone anyway, not knowing whether it was a salesman offering a great new something-or-other, or a dear relative with urgent news.
Like so many conveniences, Caller ID has its benefits, but with its power comes the potential for miss-use. We don’t answer those sales calls anymore, but there are also times we’ll send a friend to voicemail just because we’re preoccupied with something else just then. We can always return the call later.
Which brings us to Isaiah. The passage this week doesn’t tell us what he was doing when God called. Maybe his life was going along just fine, thank you. He probably had his “to do” list with friends to see and places to go. He might even have been busy reading his Torah. Then God called. Instead of Caller ID, he provided an image of Himself complete with Seraphim worshiping Him. There was no mistaking who was on the other end of the line. Fortunately, Isaiah answered the call.
If God calls us when we’re busy, preoccupied with other things, will we answer, or will we check the Caller ID and send him to voicemail with the promise to get back to Him later?