No Dave Grohl, but I’ve got a confession to make. I’m a procrastinator. I waste a lot of time on mindless entertainment. I work hard at my job and building my relationship with my life, but I can be flat out lazy with other aspects of my life. I waste A LOT of time. Honestly, I act like I don’t know that there is a ticker on my life. I live as if I know the day and the hour and I can tread water until I feel like seizing the moment. It’s ungrateful, shameful and sinful. That’s why I’m sharing this with you.
Apple just rolled out a feature that tells you how much time you spend on your phone. The data has been pretty sobering, personally. It says I spend a whole of time listening to music and working. I also spend a fair amount of time on social media laughing at silly memes too. In of itself, there’s nothing wrong with those things. God gives us those things to make it easier to keep in touch with loved ones, conduct business, build bridges that otherwise would not have been possible, and on it goes. It’s a blessing that I’m able to do those things.
So, what’s the problem? Well, you could deduce from the meme that my prayer life is a little lacking to say the least. What it’s also not telling you is that I spend more time listening and reading things about the Word rather than reading the Word for myself. This can be interpreted in so many ways. It’s so wonderful to have the teaching of so many wise people readily available at any given time. This also is a blessing.
My conviction is this: there is no substitute for personal time with the Word. All these tools are wonderful supplements, but to borrow something else from Piper, we must see and savor Christ for ourselves. The Word of God is living water and prayer is sacred commune. Honestly, what is so important that we don’t have time for that? I say we because I feel safe assuming I’m not the only one that’s going through this knowing or unknowingly.
How do we get to know who Christ is and what pleases and glorifies Him? We read, we pray, we meditate and we commune with God whether we are alone or in the fellowship of brothers and sisters. Let’s not fall into the complacency I find myself in so wearily often. There’s always something more to learn about God and ourselves. There’s always a spot in our hearts that needs healing and softening from our Creator. There’s always a deep need to commune with God, because it’s what we were made for.
In closing, we don’t know the day or the hour. The time to pray is now. The time to serve is now. The time to cherish what and who we have is now. The time to do that thing that’s been on our hearts is now. Now is the time for repentence and reconciliation. Now is the time for us to seek our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Now is the time we cry out, because the time is coming. How we steward this gift matters.
Don’t let social media get … the best of you.