Gifts That Can Cut

My daughter shares my fondness for knives, so occasionally she gets a gift that can cut her if she's not careful.

Lots of gifts are like that. Good things can go bad, especially if they are abused. But they're still gifts, and we should be grateful for them, even as we smart from our self-inflicted wounds.

The Bible frequently treats wine as a gift from God

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov 3:9-10)

even as it treats it as something dangerous.

Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. (Prov 23:31-32)

The internet is a gift like that. Almost the whole of human knowledge can be at your fingertips. You can hold in your hands a little device that can give you access to almost every book ever written. Or you can look at naughty pictures and cyber-bully teenagers.

The internet has broadened our reach. Even my little site has been visited by someone from almost every country on earth. People from Andorra, Antigua, Burundi, Bhutan, and a bunch of other places I couldn't even find on a map have stopped here however briefly. Hopefully at least a few have found something that pointed them to Christ or helped them know and serve him better. Many countries try to suppress the gospel in their borders, but they can't stop their people from looking out. I've had visitors from Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, and just about every other Muslim majority country. And this is just people who've stumbled across one little blog.

People anywhere in the world can access the writings and sermons of some of the best preachers ever, both living and dead. You may live in one of the places where you can't legally own a Bible, but you can read it on your phone. The power of the internet has given people access to the gospel and believers access to a biblical education in a way that was completely unimaginable just a generation ago.

So this year, as we thank God for all the blessings he was given us, take a moment to be grateful for the double-edged gift of the internet. Before you order way too much on Amazon's black Friday sale.