The Dynamic Word

It’s been a long road to voice recognition devices like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell took some of the first steps with the phonograph (1877) and the Dictaphone (1885), but these machines were passive—until Audrey came along in 1952 as the first documented speech recognizer.

Audrey (short for “Automatic Digit Recognition”) was a huge machine with a six-foot relay rack, loads of energy-consuming amplifiers, integrators, filters, vacuum tubes, and cables. The room-sized computer, invented by Bell Labs, could distinguish between ten numbers (“0” through “9”). With some fine-tuning, the gargantuan electronic marvel could reach an accuracy level of 97 percent.

Imagine the very elements of the earth recognizing your voice and obeying your commands. That’s what happened at Creation when God spoke the earth into existence. “He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9).

What’s even more incredible is that most of what God created (the exceptions being Adam and Eve) did not come from preexisting matter. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

The Bible says that seven times during the Creation week, God spoke. Don’t stumble over the dynamic divine commands of the Lord in Genesis 1. “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (v. 3). “Then God said, ‘Let there be a firmament’ … and it was so” (vv. 6, 7).

The creative energy of God’s Word is still active through the “Word of God” in the Bible. Let the powerful Word speak into your heart and watch a new creation spring forth.

Apply It:

Find a meaningful Bible promise (such as Ezekiel 36:26), write it down on a card, then practice memorizing it aloud. Let God’s Word change your heart.

Dig Deeper:

Psalm 29:1–11; Psalm 148:5, 6; 2 Peter 3:5