Worthless Things
A blessing we often take for granted these days is the ease of access we have to a wealth of information. This generation walks around with devices in their pockets that would have been considered miraculous just a century ago. Imagine trying to explain a smartphone to someone from the 19th century or the millennia prior to it.
"I have a hand-held device that can display an incredibly accurate map of the entire world that will also tell me precisely how to get where I want to go. I could, with a single touch of my finger, capture the most realistic portrait of a person, more accurate and true-to-life than the foremost Renaissance painter could dream of. I have, on this tiny device, access to more written material than all of the great libraries of antiquity combined."
Such a thing would be unfathomable for such a person. However, this blessing is a double-edged sword. Along with the good, there is an immeasurable amount of junk that tempts and distracts. Though it is surely a wonderful thing, a Bible app (with instant book/chapter navigation, multiple translations/versions in myriad languages) is not something most folks even download, let alone use on a regular basis. No, the bulk of the internet-wielding population uses modern computer technology chiefly for entertainment. Young adults spend hours in a day on Tik Tok, Facebook, X, YouTube, et al. Some of these adults (who are also parents) use phones and tablets as weapons-grade pacifiers for their kids, resulting in as of yet undetermined damage to their developing minds. This is all bad enough, without also considering the inordinate percentage of internet traffic dedicated to pornography.
Many people are aware that being "chronically online" is a significant problem. Christians should be doubly so. If we spend more hours in a week mindlessly scrolling through any social media app, watching Netflix, playing video games, etc., than we do studying or applying Scripture, we sin. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). Well-studied Christians know that to give more attention to worldly things is wrong. "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). Our attitude should be as that of one of the psalmists: "Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed when I look into all Your commandments" (Psalm 119:5-6). Indeed, should we find ourselves enamored with the TV screen, pray: "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way" (Psalm 119:37).