The title of this article was the quote for my final year of high school. Though it seemed like a joke back then, I feel that it is a surreal moment now in our lives.
I think a lot about things like, I can do it tomorrow because I am too busy today or I don’t want to do it today. Why should I study for this test when I have an hour before the test to study? I will read the Bible later.
It is easy to download daily verses on my phone, but trying to convince myself to take 30 seconds to read that verse becomes impossible because I am able to convince myself that I am too busy to read it but not too busy to watch a five-minute YouTube video every morning.
I grew up with the phrase of, “Why not live in the now instead of the then?”
This was referencing the uses of technology. I still remember my very first cell phone. It was a white flip phone with a dial on the bottom. Then I upgraded to a black and orange keyboard phone. I was on cloud nine at that time. I was able to text my friends or call people.
Now, it is hard to find a flip phone and to think of a time where I did not have a smart phone. But how hard would it be to forget our phones in our room and spark conversation with the person next door in the dorm or residencies?
To fully understand what is going on with someone’s life, we must converse with someone in a face-to-face conversation instead of screen-to-screen. Though technology is now running our lives and it has become hard to think of a time without it, I believe that God has given this application of knowledge and the use of resources that are at our finger tips to help with human needs and to solve every day problems.
Technology is one where someone is able to communicate God’s miraculous works to the world. But we must be able to first take a time out from technology to see what miraculous work God has done in the world. The best moments in my life (and I would argue in yours as well) are the moments that I forgot my charger or when my phone died being that I would not have to continually wonder if I missed a text or something going on at home.
My challenge to those that read this article is to think how often you spend your day on your phone or using some form of technology. Time yourself this week and see how long you spend looking at a screen every day.
Yes, Mario Kart just came out on our phones, but I challenge you to rethink how you would like to use the technology that you own. Is it for entertainment or is it used to better God’s kingdom?
