Articles I read

• I actually didn’t read any articles worth sharing on this platform this week, so I’ll leave this space blank and just put some extra content in the “media I consumed” space.

Media I consumed

• Google and OpenAI both showed off the latest AI tools they are building and I was very impressed. A few years from now, everybody will be speaking to AI vocally the way we see Ironman speak to Jarvis in the movies, and we would get so used to it, we will forget about how we used to use computers before we could simply have conversations with them vocally.

• Here are two short videos to give you a summary of the new features:

• And for the nerds like me, here are two long videos to give you the full details:

You might need to watch those long ones on 1.5x speed.

Spiritual Lessons

We get so used to reading the stories of the heroes of the Bible that we underplay the struggles they had and we only remember how they ended up. I just realized for the first time during my studies this week that Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the nation of Israel, did not accept God as his personal God for 20 years of his adult life.

Gen 28:20 (New Living Translation)

”²⁰  Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, ²¹  and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God.”
Just look at all the “ifs”!

If you read from Genesis 27 to Genesis 32, you’ll see that he always referred to God as “the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac”. He acknowledged God as one of the gods that existed, and he clearly saw some value in receiving God’s blessings, otherwise, he wouldn’t have cheated his brother in order to get the blessings for himself, but it wasn’t until chapter 32 that he accepted God as his God.

If you’re a believer and you have a friend that has been on the fence for a long time, don’t give up, and don’t be too pushy either. Jacob was on the fence for at least 20 years, and he turned out great in the end. I recommend you read the full story with a fresh lens: look at Jacob as a regular guy who would cheat anybody to get ahead, allows the members of his family to worship various gods, and doesn’t mind accepting blessings from the God his parent's worshiped if it would benefit him. He probably sounds more like us now than like some super spiritual patriarch, doesn’t he? Never write anyone off. God is merciful to us all.