Finding the Disconnect in Our Connection with the Lord
By Emily Rose Massey
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33, KJV
“Good morning, sweetheart,” my wonderful husband whispered to me as my eyes struggled to open. I grabbed my cell phone and began to scrolling through my notifications from the night before. “I love you.” “I love you too,” I mumbled as I continued to fix my attention on an inanimate object, instead of the sweet man God has given to me. My husband lovingly snatched my cell phone from my hand and looked me straight in the eyes, longing for me to share a moment with him before he went off to work that day. The sad thing is, this isn’t the first and only time I’ve done this to him, or others for that matter.
Now, I know I’m not the only one who has grabbed their cell phone first thing in the morning or stared at the screen during dinner with a friend, so I must ask: when did we get so consumed with technology that we’ve allowed it to capture our complete attention more than an actual human being? When I had this interaction with my husband, I realized all he wanted was a little attention before he started his day. Imagine how God must feel when we choose not only other people before Him but things. I want to dig even deeper and ask, is this dependency on electronics and technology also affecting our relationship with the Lord? Matthew 6:33 (KJV) asks us to seek the Lord first:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
This means always putting Him first in our lives, even the first few moments of our day. He is the One who graciously woke us up, gave us the breath in our lungs, and provided us the opportunity to live another day. He deserves our devotion the moment our eyes pop open, even if it is a mere “thank you, God” before our feet even hit the floor.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
As we live in the great information age, we are bombarded with opportunities to fill our time and our minds with many things that can so easily replace our time of fellowship with the Lord. The information available to us, literally at our fingertips, at all times, is a wonderful gift, but that mobile device we carry around in our purses and pockets can also be a mobile distraction that follows us everywhere we go. Although our cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. are not evil, I do believe we need to be cautious as to how much time we devote to them. We need to be aware of where we are directing our focus. We need to be attentive to what is capturing our attention.
Perhaps you may not have an issue with technology distracting you from the Lord- that’s great! Stay strong and be an accountability partner for those around you who have easily pulled away from the things of God because of the ever-increasing information age. But if you are like me (a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom) and you are finding yourself with limited time to spend with Jesus in prayer and the Word, I challenge you to ask the Lord if there is something you can arrange in your schedule to allow better time management. Also, ask Him if He would like for you to fast (technology, that is) something that could be causing division between you and Him.
Devote specific time every day to spend some quiet time in fellowship with God and reading your Bible, without your cellphone or iPad within reach- turn them off during that time and perhaps put a timer on the most-used apps that you access throughout your day. Be thankful for the benefits of the tools and global connections that technology brings us, but don’t allow technology to rob you of your connection to Jesus. Let’s un-connect for a while, refocus, and reconnect with the Lord!
Further Reading:
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Delmaine Donson
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