Letters From Grandpa #557

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 557

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will begin with these inspired words of King David: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand”. (Ps. 139:13-18)

The Human Genome Project is one of the greatest scientific feats in history. The project was launched in Oct. 1990 and completed in April 2003. The human genome is the complete set of genetic information, stored as DNA within the nucleus of nearly every one of the trillions of cells in the human body. Every person’s genome is different and is a large part of what makes us into unique individuals. The human genome consists of about 3.2 billion bases in a precise order, each of which can be represented by the letters G, A, T, or C. If these 3.2 billion letters were printed in size 12 font the word would be so long that it would stretch from Houston to Boston.

Looking at it another way, there are 31,536,000 seconds in a year. To find out how many seconds are in 10 years we merely add a zero – 315,360,000. To find out how many seconds are in 100 years we add another zero – 3,153,600,000. This is three “billion” with a “b”. This means that if you read one letter per second of the 3.2 billion letters in your DNA, it would take you 100 years to read them all!

I’m sure you know many people with 3 letter names such as: Pam, Sue, Ava, Tom, Bob, Jim, etc. If you should step outside and see a hundred rocks arranged to spell one of these names what would you think? Would you think they had been formed by an accident of nature, or that someone with a mind had arranged them? Now, what do you think about 3.2 billion letters arranged in order to identify your DNA? How could that possibly be an accident? A jury, as you know, is charged to make decisions beyond a “reasonable” doubt. Please be “reasonable”! You know that the 3.2 billion letters in your DNA were not arranged by accident, but were written by God!

The Psalmist also said: “The fool says in his heart there is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile” (Ps. 14:1) There are 8 different Hebrew words translated as “fool” in the Bible. (1) Nabal – shamelessly immoral. (2) Ewil – hasty, impatient, self sufficient. (3) Kesil – thickness, sluggishness. (4) Sakhal – thickheaded. (5) Pethi – simple. (6) Baar – brutish. (7) Taphel – insipid, untempered. (8) Toholah – folly, error.

The word for fool in Psalm 14:1 is “nabal.” This means to be “shamelessly immoral.” Isaiah 32:6 uses this word to describe someone who “speaks folly” and “practices ungodliness.” Genesis 34:7 uses it to describe Shechem who raped Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Deuteronomy 22:21 uses it to describe a woman who plays the whore in her father’s house. It is used in Joshua 7:15 to describe Achan who stole a wedge of gold and Babylonian garments from Jericho. It is used in Judges 19:23-24 to describe the sexual perverts who lusted after a Levite and raped his concubine to death. It is used in 2 Samuel 13:12 to describe Amnon who raped Tamar, etc.

Each of these “shamelessly immoral” people had something in common. Each one of them believed they were going to get by with their shameless immorality! Each one was saying “in his heart” that there was no God to whom they would have to give an account for their actions!

Please prayerfully consider what David wrote earlier in this same psalm: “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:1-12)

Yes! Truly “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) When you really “think” about it, nothing is more “reasonable” than making peace with the God!

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce