July 17
“For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:14-17)
Yesterday we started exploring the downward spiral that more and more of us are getting sucked into, and that is internet overexposure or media addiction. These are situations where we spend time watching something online, like a TV series, and before we know it we are binge watching an entire season of shows. Hours and hours are consumed as we watch several seasons of episodes in one or two very long viewing sessions. And because there are seemingly endless movies and TV series available for instant streaming on-line, it is very easy to start another series after we have just spent hours and hours watching the first, and then another and another. There truly is no end of hours we can end up wasting in this way. (I also want to add that this discussion applies equally to cable TV with its seemingly endless choices available.)
But the problem worsens when this lack of self-control results in us stumbling further into darker and more immoral programs. Worse still, these very poor habits can be the devil’s way of preparing the way for other internet addictions, namely pornography. This is a very real evil and a very real problem for many of us.
The wasting of time and the saturating of our minds with worldly thinking and worldly values for hours and hours is simply feeding the flesh and quenching the Spirit. It will do nothing to help us or our family or friends. It will do nothing to better the world. It is numbing the mind to the realities of life, causing us to forget the Lord and the judgment to come and the shortness of our time here on earth to make a difference. It is an escape, a plunge into a self-centered, flesh-oriented land of make-believe. At best we will awaken from our transfixed daze with more to do and less time to do it in. Or worse, we will find our minds corrupted, polluted, perhaps even full of evil thoughts and images that may stay with us for a long, long time. Worse still, we may find ourselves being disciplined by God, with the things that are precious to us being taken away and replaced by pain and punishment.
I want to raise awareness of what is happening to us, for it is very easy to slip into these bad habits, especially if we are feeling sad or lonely or bored. If you are in these states, or if you are feeling depressed for whatever reason, you may find yourself particularly vulnerable to this type of temptation and more easily forming bad habits.
To help overcome these sins, be aware of your vulnerabilities. Ask yourself why are you wanting to watch this thing? Ask the Holy Spirit what He would have you do, and ask Him permission to watch something, and if He seems to be saying “no,” then don’t! If you do decide to watch something, do you have in your mind strict rules for yourself as to what you will and will not watch and for how long? You should. We must control ourselves and set limits for ourselves at the outset. The initial decisions are often where the first sins take place that lead to more and more sin. It is in these early stages of our decision making where we have to get control and set boundaries for ourselves.
To be continued tomorrow.