Today’s scripture: Psalm 139:14; Romans 11:33 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Steve Adams):
You’ve probably heard of Bill Gates, the inventor of Microsoft Windows. He began writing “code” (instructions in computer language that tell a computer what to do) for the 1975 Altair BASIC computer. He and his partners made increasingly complex designs resulting in Windows 1.0, which debuted on November 20, 1985. Since then, as everyone knows, the world has changed. We now have Windows 7, and Mr. Gates is worth $40 billion! By way of the world’s economy, he has received reward for his brilliant work and is now a household name, much like one of his inventive predecessors, Thomas Edison.
As complex as computer code language and design is, there’s another code that’s miles beyond it — the DNA code. Even though it sounds like science fiction, its message is three billion letters long! This code instructs our cells how to function and gives each of us our individuality. All of our hereditary information is contained in what is called a genome, and is encoded in DNA or RNA (does this bring back memories of high school biology class?) Dr. Francis Collins, director of The Human Genome Project, said DNA can be thought of as “an instructional script, a software program, sitting in the nucleus of each cell.”* In fact, Dr. Collins wrote a book titled The Language of God, in which he ponders many of the wonders he and others discovered as he coordinated The Human Genome Project, the massive thirteen year study that sought to identify the three billion “base pairs” with make up human DNA.
Now (as opposed to high school) all these scientific facts are relevant and fascinating! I want to learn more, because they’re about how our Creator, God, used infinite wisdom, in infinite love, to design us. Back in high school, genetics and biology were a mass of overwhelming, over-technical, under-relevant information. Now, it’s the details which illustrate (at least a part of) our Heavenly Mother/Father’s incomprehensible love.
- Scene one: It’s the year 2000, and you see a sign advertising a Spelling Bee at your local grade school. It never even crosses your mind to attend. You have more important things to do.
- Scene two: It’s 2010, and your eight year-old is in the Spelling Bee. When he makes it to the finals, you’re every bit as excited as you are when you watch the Super Bowl.
What a difference it makes when you know and love the person spelling the words!
A few years ago I went with my spouse Dan to look at a new Honda that he was planning to buy. It had all kinds of nifty features, invented by humans, of course. It might at first seem that you are solely in man’s inventive domain when you look at automotive engineering. However, since God designed the human brain which designed the Honda, this is actually an indirect creation of God, as are all other inventions, from the wheel to the cell phone!
Thought for the day: Since God’s deep wisdom is way over our heads, doesn’t it make sense to learn how God wants us to live, and then do our utmost to live that way?
*This quote and a clear, informative discussion of computer code and DNA code can be found at everystudent.com.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.