Song Heralds Blogging?

 

 

An old song by Sting: Message in a Bottle.

 

It has a curious way of telling us how things really are. The song Message in a Bottle begins with these lyrics:

 

Just a castaway, an island lost at sea.
Another lonely day with no-one there but me.
Oh more loneliness that any man could bear,
rescue me before I fall into despair.
I will send an S.O.S to the world;
I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle.

And it finishes up like this?

Walked out this morning,
don’t believe what I saw.
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore.
Seems I’m not alone at being alone,
hundred billion castaways looking for a home.
I’ll send an S.O.S to the world,
I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle.”

 

It’s a song that connected with a lot of people, a song that tells it just the way things are for so many.  “Message in a Bottle” speaks to the heart. Just a lonesome bunch of people?

So what am I suggesting? Look, there are so many people doing amazing things. They are talented, able and committed. Good things being done in the world but mashed up with that, a lot of bad things too and it’s always been like that. I want to think for a moment about this whole ‘message in a bottle’ thing. Is it true? Are there a whole bunch of lonely people out there?

After reading a book some time ago about blogging. Now, that my blog is up and running. Why Blog?  It’s where people, mostly young and not so young as well, get online and share their thoughts, photos, and videos for the world to see.

How many people do you think there are on the Internet, blogging in 2024? There are over 600 million! Six hundred million sending out their message in a bottle, all crying out to be noticed, all wanting to be outstanding and significant. That's a staggering 1/3 of the 1.8 billion websites out there. With a tremendous 7.5 million blog posts each day or 2.7 billion per year.

This message in-a-bottle thing is happening in a way today that Sting could never have imagined when he wrote that song.

Maybe you’re not a blogger, but you know what I’m talking about. This deep search for significance! People are looking for that place where they can say,” I’ve found myself and now I have a deep sense of satisfaction about my life and how I fit in.” It’s not about circumstances but about who we are and where we fit. Many people send out their messages in a bottle in the most- unique ways.

There is a message, not in a bottle, but in a very significant book named the Bible. Have you heard about this  important book? If you have?

Then you probably heard about the Old Testament a large portion of the Bible, written by over 30 different people in many centuries before Jesus was born. There are very precise predictions about Jesus, e.g., he would be born in Bethlehem. He would be born of a virgin. He would be killed and the Roman soldiers would gamble over his clothes after they had killed him. Over 100 predictions. Things that Jesus himself would have found pretty hard to arrange unless He is who He says He is.

Unless? Those predictions throughout the Old Testament about Jesus are, because, God knows all of history from the very beginning. Centuries before Jesus Christ arrived. He was arranging the affairs of humankind with His boundless power, extraordinary wisdom and endless knowledge.

 God’s plan, I believe, is to be in our midst and to give us peace and joy at anytime and beyond. He quietly slipped into the world in this stable in Bethlehem.

What if God saw these messages in bottles lying on that beach? What if He heard the cry of our hearts? What if God always knew that the only way to quiet your and my heart, to still your heart, to satisfy our souls was for us to know Him? What if this Jesus is God’s message to you and me in a bottle? What if God’s plan was always to become a man and step into our world? God in the flesh, God’s message in a bottle.

Inspired initially by Pastor   B. Dymet of the Christianity Works