Desktop Manufacturing

Genesis 11:6
“And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

We live in a day and age when God has allowed men and women more freedom than He has allowed previous generations. That freedom can be used for worse evil than the world has ever known, or it can be used for more good than the world has ever known. Christians will make the difference.

Several generations after the Flood, the people of the Earth were united into one people and one language. They had grown proud and had rejected God’s command to disperse and repopulate the Earth. In Genesis 11:6, God notes that as one people with one language, they would be able to accomplish anything they wanted. The problem was that they would be led to trust in themselves instead of God!

We were reminded of this point when we read about some of the startling changes currently taking place in technology. Today we can use a computer to design an artificial hip joint, a gear or an engine exhaust assembly in three dimensions. The part can be designed in New York. Through a phone line, the computer can command a robot in California to fashion a plastic model of the image. That plastic model then becomes the basis for the mold that will form the product. In other words, we can literally fax a solid object anywhere we want. This isn’t science fiction – it’s  already happening.
    
Despite its traditional divisions, today’s world is united into one technological people and language. Will it be for good or for evil? Only God’s people, scripturally informed and profoundly committed to God’s will, can make the difference.

Prayer:
I thank You, dear Father, for the blessings that we enjoy because of modern technology. I especially thank You for the ways in which Your people have used that technology to bring the saving Gospel to more of the world’s people. Help us to be Your instruments to use these gifts for good rather than evil. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Allman, William F. 1992. “The ultimate widget.” U.S. News & World Report, July 20. p. 55.