PRAYER PROMPT ••• I spend more hours looking at a screen than anything else.
Anyone else?
For many of us, our livelihoods are contained within monitors and hard drives.
Not to mention spreadsheets and word documents.
Personally, I love it.
But I’m a nerd (I love spreadsheets).
Technology has also changed how we have relationships.
I have friends all over the country because of the marvels of technology.
Through Proverbs 31 Ministries, I’ve been blessed to meet wonderful women I wouldn’t have known if not for Facebook.
Some of them, I volunteer with, and others, I’ve met through Online Bible Studies.
Technology connects us, but it also divides us.
I saw a Christmas picture the other day of a family of four, all of them with heads lowered over a smartphone.
It was meant to be funny, but it served as a prime example of the negative impact technology has on relationships.
We miss real engagement, and it’s easy to misunderstand text messages and emails.
Though computers were a couple thousand years away from development when John wrote 3 John 1:13-14, even he understood the importance of face-time (as opposed to FaceTime).
In these verses, he wrote, “I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink. For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.”
When is the last time you had a real face-to-face conversation, with phones put away, giving your attention to the person (people) right in front of you?
It’s hard!
My phone is always nearby, and it’s hard to put it away and be fully engaged.
But that human connection is so important.
Jesus was so good at being in the moment.
He may have been on his way to heal a little girl, but when the bleeding woman touched His robes, He stopped and engaged with her in conversation (Luke 8:40-48).
He showed interest in people and took time for them.
He never said, “Hey, I’m really busy right now. I’ll catch you next time I’m passing through.”
We’re all busy.
That excuse doesn’t really hold up anymore because while we may be busy in different ways, we all have 24 hours in a day.
SocialMediaToday.com estimates two hours per day is spent looking at social media.
With that in mind, it’s hard to make the argument that you don’t have time for coffee with a friend.
God made us to worship Him first, and have relationships with each other next.
He said in Genesis 1:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
Since Jesus modeled how to be a friend, let’s take time to be connected and share all God’s doing in our lives.
Today, as you pray, thank God for the marvels of technology that connects us in ways that used to be impossible.
But ask Him to help us keep perspective; that we remember the value of that face-to-face time.
Ask Him to help us be in the moment when you’re with family and friends.
One Response
Amen, Denise!