"The
squeaky wheel gets the grease" - or so I've been told. This saying makes
a few assumptions. First, there are other wheels competing for that
grease. In other words, there always seems to be a lot of other people
who want exactly what you want, whether grease or whatever. Second, if
you want to get the proverbial grease then you need to squeak louder
than the rest. Third, you must keep squeaking, louder and louder, until
you have become so overwhelmingly annoying that someone will give you
the grease just to shut you up!
Some
people call this getting the grease, others call it nagging. Pretty much
everybody calls it annoying as all getout - which, of course, is why it
works!
Yes,
nagging works. I hate that it works, but it does work, which is why we
live in a world full of nagging voices. This is one aspect of the modern
world of hi-tech communication that I find distinctly unpleasant. On the
internet it is called "push technology" - a very appropriate term since
it is highly pushy.
Push
technology works through email, cell phone apps, so-called "cookies" as
you browse the web and through sophisticated machine-learning algorithms
that track everything you do on the internet, and increasingly even off
the internet in the real world. Multi-billion dollar companies are
listening to you in your bedroom via your TV or other equipment, whether
you turned it on or not. They listen in on your phone conversations and
even the dialog in the room. All of this invasion of your privacy is
happening because nagging has become monetized as "targeted
advertising." Huge money is being paid by advertisers to be there in any
given moment when you might seem to suggest any remote vulnerability to
their sales message, when they target you, and squeak louder in your ear
than all the rest. If you don't respond in that moment, and maybe even
if you do, once they have targeted you their nagging message will follow
you everywhere you go, until they get your "grease." After that, of
course, their nagging will only keep increasing as they keep pushing in
your direction, forever.
If you
thought the targeted advertising was the worst of it, guess again. There
is a far more sinister side to all of this, which is truly alarming. The
internet giants are not content with simply selling you something. They
want much more than that. They want to control your mind. That may sound
extreme, and it is, but it is also true. The reason is that they have
both the need and the influence to remold the world into a place that is
optimized to their liking. Since they have a global market they also
have a globalist mentality with a political and social agenda to match.
Don't be so naive as to think they would not use their global hi-tech
platform to influence the masses, one person at a time, to conform to
their thinking. This brings nagging to a whole other level - to the
level of brainwashing. They are tracking you in an attempt to steer you
toward the ideas they want you to think about and toward the "news" with
the spin that they want you to accept. Their methods are often very
subtle, but they are constantly nagging you to think like they want you
to think, and it may be working far better than you could ever imagine.
See the video: The Creepy Line.
Here's
my question: How much of that unceasing flood of hi-tech nagging is from
God? Not much, right?
Here's
my next question: If it's not from God then whom is it from? ..Right.
..Are you seeing the enormity of the problem?
Yes, the
devil is in control of this world and our hi-tech age is a massive
force-multiplier for him. It allows him to literally hound mankind into
conformity with his plans and purposes, and to inflict punishment upon
any who do not go along with the crowd, in supporting his evil ends. In
Biblical terms, we are talking about the "broad road" that leads to
destruction.
That's a
lot to resist, day in and day out. Do you feel the stress of that? Yeah,
me too. It is a massive constant pressure. That is why you can't take
your salvation for granted. Rather you must "work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling." The narrow road must be your constant concern,
if you are going to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. To win
you must "run with perseverance the race that is set before us." You
must overcome to win the race, and that will take a lot of perseverance.
Since the devil and the world are constantly nagging you, then you must
be even more persistent in your course than they are in trying to turn
you away. (Philippians 2:12b, Hebrews 12:1)
To
overcome you must counter all of that nagging from the world with the
truth from the Scriptures. Most of us need help with that, which is what
Tsiyon is all about. Unlike the world, we are not tracking you and
invading your life all the time. Generally, you get just this one
newsletter from us to keep you up to date with what we are offering.
After that, it is entirely up to you to use your Tsiyon resources or
not. We know that since the pressure from the world is constant then
your efforts at combating the river of lies with the truth must be
constant also. That's why we prominently post our Tsiyon Partner
Action Points near the top of each Tsiyon News. These click through
to the website where each point is found. By following these each week
you can systematically build up your knowledge of the truth in a few
hours each week. Many have found this a hugely powerful way to help them
stay on the narrow path. It does take persistence from week to week to
reap these benefits, but this is left entirely up to you to utilize or
not. We hope you do though, because we care how things turn out for you,
and we are doing all we can to help you run the race to the finish as an
overcomer.
A major
offering of Tsiyon is our weekly Sabbath meetings, which you can join
live online, or view the video recording on demand from the website. We
are listening carefully to Messiah in the Gospels right now, as we move
through them verse by verse. Again, this is persistent forward movement,
as we run the race toward the finish. There is nothing like the words
and example of our Messiah to empower us to overcome the world in these
last days, and moving with Him through His words and actions is truly
transformative!