One day I left the house and forgot my phone. I was 20 miles down the road before, in despair, I realized I’d forgotten it. Even though it made me EXTREMELY late—I turned around and went all the way back to get it. Another time, I was at an Army/Navy game in Philly when my phone fell out of my pocket in the Uber. I was at the gate and reached for my phone to show my e-ticket and PANICKED when I realized my phone was missing. It was a LOT of trouble to get it back!
How does forgetting or misplacing your phone affect you? Is it worth driving 40 minutes and being late to have it with you? Do you have a sense of panic or despair when you lose it? How much do you BELIEVE that your everyday life REALLY depends on it?
These two incidents demonstrated to me the inordinately high value I was placing on my phone.
This was troubling! So I asked myself some hard questions:
~Do I place the same value on my quiet time with God?
~What about my prayer time—do I panic if I don’t pray everyday?
~Do I value losing my Bible like I value losing my phone?
~Is checking my email, scrolling through social media, reading the news, etc., on the same level as checking in with God, reading His Word, talking with Him, listening to His Spirit, etc.?
~Do I have the same panicky feeling when I don’t feel God’s presence?
If the Bible is truth and God is the reason for my life and everything good I enjoy—then it’s time to reorder my thinking about what I should love. It’s insanity to so highly value an inanimate object—especially over the living God! It begins by being honest enough with myself to confess to God that I am not making Him the Lord of my life. God already knows that I’m more attached to AND dependent upon my “smart” phone than I am to Him. God already knows my dim view of His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence!
It is I who must change the way I think!
I must change my thinking to reflect this TRUTH:
My “smart” phone is limited to the imagination, wisdom, and power of the mind of man, and—it does NOT love me.
This truth will help me change my way of thinking and break the addiction to my phone. Humanity thirsts for knowledge, entertainment, and human companionship to guide us, comfort us and give us love, hope, and wisdom. The smart phone makes it easy to make us THINK that we have it all—news, entertainment, communication with friends, affirmation, sports, calendar, and work—all wrapped up into one small object.
But the TRUTH IS—without God—we ARE nothing and we HAVE nothing.
We must seek FIRST—God—Who has unlimited imagination, power, and wisdom and—loves us more than we love ourselves! We need to allow God to create a new addiction—to Him. This requires we learn from His Word, experience His presence, and allow Him to produce the fruits of His Spirit within us.
To be filled with the Spirit of GOD, we must prioritize time to tune out all the HUMAN noise!
When we tune into God, He clears our ability to think, reason, and exercise sound wisdom. He comforts, satisfies, and clarifies reality so we find our unique and wonderful purpose. He is wiser than anyone (or anything), but to discover Him, we must spend time with Him.
If we desire ANYTHING more than we desire God, then we are cheating ourselves of His REMARKABLE goodness.
God offers us more goodness than we can imagine. He offers us “pleasantness for our soul,” and His Word is His recipe book to find everything we desire. His Word promises:
“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding…then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”
Proverbs 2:1-6, 9-10
All the wisdom, comfort, love, and strength we desire—is as close to us—as we are to God.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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