Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Information

We live in an amazing time.

I made myself some hot chocolate tonight and noticed this on the bag of mini marshmallows:

"Eat one at a time." Really? They're mini marshmallows. It seems like it might be safe to eat two or three at a time.

Then I started thinking about regular-sized marshmallows and a little game we used to play in youth group every once in a while.

I went to the computer and typed in "Has anyone ever died playing Chubby Bunny?"

Snopes had the answer. Yes! A twelve year old girl had died after choking on marshmallows. (She and her friends started playing before the scheduled "supervised" time for the game.)

 Then I remembered that I had seen "Sea Urchins" on the menu board at the Japanese Restaurant Allison and I had eaten at for lunch today. I had commented "I wonder how you eat those?" and Allie had ventured some guess about removing the spikes first.

(Photo from http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com)

"How do you eat sea urchins?" went into the Google search box and immediately I was looking at lots of links that answered my question.

Now, all of this is absolutely fascinating, I know, but we can get carried away if we're not careful. Once we start googling, it's hard to stop. One answer can generate more questions, and instant answers can make us feel pretty smart about lots of subjects.

We can even do this with spiritual matters.

Instead of going to the Bible and looking for answers, we google it.

"How will the End Times happen?"
"What is heaven like?"
"How do I forgive someone who's hurt me?"
"How long was Noah on the ark?"
"What's the name of that guy that cursed those kids and bears came and mauled them?"

Try it! Instant answers.

We have to realize that our search results may not always be accurate depending on who is writing on certain topics.

We need to be diligent and check what we find with the Bible itself, digging deep and making sure we look at verses in context and know what the Bible says as a whole.

If we do that, we won't just be smart...we'll also be wise.

"The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly [maybe marshmallows and sea urchins?]." (Proverbs 15:14 NIV)

What's the strangest thing you ever googled? Do you use the internet to answer spiritual questions, too? How can focusing on God help you to discern what's true from all of the information available online?