29 November

Today's the day when in 1877 Thomas Edison first demonstrated his new invention, the phonograph - a means of recording sound that was the predecessor of the modern day record turntable and CD player. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil cylinders using a stylus. Unfortunately this system had poor sound quality and destroyed the track during replay so you could listen only a few times. Edison's early patents show that he also considered the idea that sound could be recorded as a spiral onto a disc. His accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical and he became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey, where he lived.

Recording sounds is easy nowadays. We take it for granted. Discs, mp3 players and computers make it simple. It’s a bigger challenge to make sure the word of God is recorded on our hearts. But God promises this is precisely what his Spirit does. Jesus said his Spirit will lead us into all truth and Jeremiah tells us, in chapter 31, how that can happen:

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbours,
or say to one another, "Know the LORD,"
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

Maybe today you need to turn down some of the other noises you listen to and tune in to the message that God has written on your heart.