What is the first thing you reach for each morning? Is it your phone? It’s 8PM on a Tuesday; what are you doing? Are you studying or are you scrolling on your phone or playing video games? How many IRL* discussions have you had today or do you solely connect with your friends in text messaging, chat boards, and/or through video games?
Does anything or anyone control you? I bet you are saying “no – no one or anything is controlling me!” But if we look at Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”, we may need to rethink the answer.
What does it mean “present yourselves slaves?” What is a slave? The word “slave” in the Greek is Doulos. According to Bible Hub, this word is derived from the Greek verb (deo) meaning “to bind”. In Hebrew, “slave” is used as servant. The bottom line is, “Where is your focus?” Are you a servant for Christ or for sin? Wherever you are directing most of your time and energy will dictate what or who you are serving.
We need to make sure we are utilizing technology as a tool and not allowing it to take control of us. We need to make sure we are being deliberate when using technology such as our phones and not just be mindlessly scrolling.
Romans 6:12-14: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
We need to make sure our technology use is not hurting our time with real people. Afterall, how do we know if the people we meet online are actually who they say they are? The writer of Hebrews writes that we, as Christians, should strive to be together: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NKJV). We need to be listening to each other and encouraging each other daily.
Also we need to be aware on social media, Google, etc. not everything is factual. When we are discussing or sharing items we need to be sure of where the information is originating from and if the site is trustworthy. So much misinformation is out there that can be harmful and/or divide us. We are not to be divided or of different minds according to 1 Corinthians 1:10 – “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
So if we are not sure if we are in control of time usage of the technology, (i.e. smart phones, iPads, video games) and if they are not producing positive attitudes for us then we need to seek wisdom:
James 1:5—If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
