Why is convenience so desirable? … Well … Because it is convenient! It is much more convenient to drive my car places instead of taking the horse out of the barn, saddling him or hooking him up to the carriage. I make 400-mile trips about every month, and my car and major highways are much more convenient than riding a horse over the prairie. It would take several days by horseback instead of just one day in my car using fossil fuel. An electric shaver is much more convenient than a razor blade. A telephone is much more convenient than telegraph, and a portable phone is much more convenient than a fixed corded phone, indoor plumbing is much more convenient than outhouses and water well pumps. The list goes on and on. We can be thankful for the God-inspired inventions that make all this convenience possible.
But is it all good? Because of all the convenience we have today, we do not have the practical knowledge people had 200 years ago. Most of us do not know how to raise our own food, sew our own clothes, use hand tools, make wagons, tame horses, take care of horses and oxen, make candles, dig personal water wells, and the list goes on. We would be lost if we had to live as those who inhabited the prairies did. If there were a major catastrophe that destroys the infrastructure, most of us would die for lack of food, water, and knowledge of how to survive. What if the demand for electricity exceeds our capacity and fuel to generate it? The fossil fuels will eventually be used up, but that is far enough away that Jesus will come back first. Most people now could not handle being away from their smartphones for even one day.
It is convenient to depend on the federal government to give us what we need. The more we depend on the federal government, the more control it has over our lives, until it reaches the point of becoming a dictatorship. The mark of the beast will come as a great new convenience. There are predictions it will be a micro computer chip that can be embedded in one’s skin. It will take the place of cash and credit and debit cards; so it will be more convenient and also far safer from fraud and theft. It will have GPS tracking so a wandering senior from a retirement home can be found, and the same for lost children. What a wonderful convenience. It will also allow the government to know exactly where you have been at all times; how convenient for the controlling government. When you go to a meeting to worship the Lord when the state is requiring worship of the antichrist, your activity will be known and you will be punished. We do not know all the problems that will be created by such a wonderful advancement of convenience. We are warned in Revelation not the take the mark of the beast. But it will come very subtly and appear to be a great step forward in convenience. BE AWARE and STAY ALERT.
It would be wise at this point to ask yourself how much of modern convenience is necessary for you. The more you can get along without some of the conveniences you now enjoy, the less likely you will be deceived to follow the deceptive antichrist. The more you can put aside your dependence on some conveniences and learn to do more on your own, the better you will be able to survive when things do not go well. Getting back to living as Jesus did as best you can, the better off you will be and the better you will be able to hear and follow Him.