Monday, January 29, 2018

Was it an idol?

My life is full of idols. 
 
I knew it all along, but I wasn't willing to admit it or make and changes when it came to letting go of them. I'm always telling my students that idols are everywhere. They are things that we put before our relationship with God. I'd say it and then not do anything about it. 
 
Once of my Bible studies that started up this month is all about idols. And as I've been reading "Idol Lies" by Dee Brestin, I've come to realize how much I've let my idols take control of my life. I knew that I struggled with self control when it came to the amount of time I spend in front of the tv or perusing through Facebook. And I'd always say I should watch less tv, but I never did anything about it. I knew that the games on my phone distracted me in the morning from spending time in the Word, but I let them keep on distracting me. Well, today God decided to take a step that I wasn't willing to make on my own. And I asked Him to. As I've been in this study I asked God to reveal the idols in my life. So today a major one was shown to me. My phone. It's dead.  Not just the battery needing to be recharged...dead. My apple techie friend couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. So now I'm shopping for a new phone. 
 
I could just hop online and quickly get a phone that will be here in 2 days, but I think I need to take a day to pray about it. Yes, I'm going to replace my phone. I want to make sure I get the right one and spend my money wisely, but not only that I want to make sure my heart is in the right place before I get a new one. I want to live a few days without that idol sitting on my desk or slipped in my pocket. Unfortunately the cell phone is a necessary evil in our culture. Sure there are things about it that are blessings, but more often than not it is a distraction from other things I should be doing. 

My prayer is that as I wait for my new phone to come I'll get a grip on this struggle. I'll make a plan on how to not let my phone distract me from the Lord and other things I need to do throughout the day. It may be that once I get said phone I'll take some time to fast from playing games or going on facebook. I'm not sure yet, but I know something must change. And now is the time to do it! 

So to answer my question. Was it an idol? Yes, yes it was. And now I'm going to make a change for the better! 

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