About a month ago, Sanmay Ved, a student at Babson College in Massachusetts, was looking at domain names he could purchase for a new website. He went online, saw that one was available, purchased the domain, and paid his $12. To his surprise, he got a confirmation on his card that he was the proud new owner…of google.com!
Now, Sanmay is apparently a good guy. He wasn’t doing this for cyber-terrorism or for financial gain. He just saw that the domain was available and decided to try to buy it. He alerted Google and Google offered a reward for alerting them to the problem.
But for a few minutes, Sanmay was the owner of the most powerful website in the world. And I have seen several “helpful suggestions” about what Sanmay should have done with that temptation. Sadly, most are full of what you would expect from the world we live in today.
Some suggested he should have posted lewd pictures; some suggested that he post embarrassing information about people; and some said he should have used it to make money. But Sanmay did none of those things. He alerted Google, they offered a reward, and he turned them down! Instead, he suggested a charity, and to Google’s credit, they doubled the reward and sent it on to the charity.
Now, I can’t help but wonder…if it had been you or me…what would we have done? The question helps us discover something about where our minds are today, doesn’t it? What would you have done with such incredible power in that moment?
Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness by offering Him all the power, fame, and money this world has to offer. But Jesus refused. He had the ability, in an instant, to do whatever He wanted…and what He wanted was to glorify God (MT 4:1-11).
Power, fame, and fortune are tempting. But they are an illusion; they are only fleeting. Jesus focused on the eternal, and He calls His disciples to do the same. And He promises that those who do likewise will inherit an eternal Kingdom (MT 6:20).
