PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT SANDWICH IN THE VCR

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.  Psalm 119:37 (ESV)
 
In December of 2022, a computer science researcher entered a humorous prompt into a newly released program called ChatGPT. His request was simple:

WRITE A BIBLICAL VERSE IN THE STYLE OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE, EXPLAINING HOW TO REMOVE A PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH FROM A VCR.

The prompt (and ChatGPT’s hilarious response) went viral, and ChatGPT soon became synonymous with Artificial Intelligence (AI). As a classroom teacher, I see how every level of education is currently wrestling with these programs and trying to figure out how to handle them. As incredible and useful as these new tools are, we (both students and teachers) are now faced with a growing temptation to outsource our creative and intellectual abilities to a computer program.

These AI programs aren’t going away; they will likely eventually be integrated into almost every environment. As believers, we have to be careful not to ‘outsource’ our relationships with the Lord. I don’t know about you, but there can be plenty of distractions in my spiritual life. It can be easier to let someone else “do the work”. For me, I can move too quickly to commentaries before I spend much time studying God’s Word for myself or listening to Christian podcasts or articles instead of praying first. Just like AI programs, these can be great resources, but doing this is getting lazy in my relationship with Jesus and not spending quality time with Him.

In Psalm 119, the psalmist asks God: “Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” He knows that only in the Lord do we have life, true life. Even good things can become worthless if they’re used incorrectly. Paul in Philippians writes how even the things in his past that appear good he now considers “rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him” and prays that he might know Jesus instead (Phil. 3:8-10).

Helen Lemmel, an English-born musician who became blind due to illness, put it perfectly when she wrote:

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”

When we spend time with Jesus and “turn our eyes upon [Him]”, those distractions (technological or otherwise) really do have a way of growing "strangely dim." Getting to know Jesus through the help of the Spirit will help those lesser things we used to rely on lose their shine. As David writes to the Lord in Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy.” We find true joy in our relationship with Jesus and we won’t be able to settle for substitutes (Rom. 15:13).

As we spend time with Jesus this week, let’s pray, like the psalmist, that the Lord would turn our eyes away from worthless things (Ps. 119:37) and help us turn our eyes on Him. We know that Jesus is our true source of joy and real life is walking in His ways. I am thankful for technology that can do incredible things and that it allows us to have access to so many wonderful Biblical resources, but that doesn’t remove the need for Christians to think and pray; it creates more of a need for it.