It was about 9.30pm when I left the ministry centre after the Prepared to Go workshop on Thursday (it was good, by the way). The petrol gauge warning light on the car dash was glowing. No problem, I’ll stop in at a petrol station on the way home. How convenient.

If I get a craving any time of the day or night I know there will be somewhere I can find food. I don’t even have to get out of my car! How convenient.

Once upon a time, if I wanted money, I’d go into a bank, wait in line and talk to a real person, maybe have a polite chat and withdraw some cash. But, who wants to wait in line, and who really wants to make polite chit-chat? Thank goodness for ATMs! Remember them? I could go to a machine, punch in a few numbers and be on my way. How convenient. Now, I’ve nearly forgotten what a $20 note looks like as I whip out my smart phone and some electronic magic happens. How convenient.

I could go on . . . shopping without leaving the comfort of my lounge room. Catching up with friends overseas in real time by staring at a screen. Even typing these thoughts and being able to hit the delete button when I make a mistake. How convenient.

But, I wonder sometimes whether we can have too much of a good thing.

“I will make America great again”. That was the promise of a certain US president. What an attractive thing to promise a people hoping for a better future. Simple. Straightforward. Easy to understand. It’s the kind of thing we want to hear from our leaders.

Jesus came to a nation hoping for a better future. The crowds flocked to his rallies. He had them eating out of the palm of his hand. He was the one, they were sure. All he had to do was say the word and they’d be right behind him. All he had to do was make that simple, straightforward promise: “I will make you great again”. Instead, Jesus spoke in riddles about eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

What was he thinking?!

Two students were doing well in their university course; so well, in fact, that when it came to the final exam they went out partying the night before, confident that they would have no trouble. They had a great night, and one thing led to another and they only got home at 5am and ended up sleeping the whole morning. They missed the exam.

All is not lost, they thought. They came up with a plan. They went to their lecturer and explained that they had been visiting a terminally ill friend out of town the night before. On the way home they got a flat tire and discovered they had no spare and no jack. They were stranded and ended up sleeping the night in the car and only made it back home mid-morning. They were very sorry to have missed the exam but could they still sit it that afternoon?

The lecturer thought for a moment and decided that since the students hadn’t had a chance to talk to anyone else about the exam she would allow them to sit the test. That afternoon she sat the two students in separate rooms and gave them each the exam paper. Page one, question one. A simple one for 5 points. “No worries”, each of them thought as they turned the page for question two. It read: “Which tire?” (95 points)

There’s a difference between being smart and being wise.

Ephesians 5:15 – Be careful with how you live, not as unwise people but as wise.