the push of a button

in his book  thrilled to death, dr. archibald hart reveals a study done on high school kids who used their cell phones more than 90 times a day; he discovered the most common reason given...boredom, or unhappy. these same teens were also significantly more depressed and anxious than their peers who utilized cell phones much less. 

bigger and better has been the conscious and subconscious mantra of this generation's cry. however, upon closer observation, is bigger actually better? is the latest advancement actually proving to build upon an inferior generation? maybe. or maybe there is an advancement even at a cost that we are willing to pay. maybe this drug is sufficient to provide relief, but at a risk for a future consequence, which we are caring less about.

we are a culture dedicated to entertainment.

i love sci-fi and the sub-philosophical thought of the worlds outside our very own. i love the action and adventure of the mystical and ancient secrets revealed to our brilliant hero's of today who must escape the clutches of those evil ones who only wish to profit for themselves. i love the wittiest of comedies and the sarcasm of our most prominent comedians.

study the last 100 years of western civilization and daily lifestyle. we are a culture that longs to be entertained. within this desire, if truly assessed, we would find something about us as people...we have a longing to be apart of the action, the adventure, the romance, and the epic that grips us within the development of the whole plot!

psalm 4 is gripping as david emotionally cries, "why is everyone hungry for more? i have god's more than enough, more joy in one ordinary day" (the msg).

take a look at the development of information which mirrors psalm 4. we now live in a culture where a touch of a button gives us our desire. if you are having to wait, you are an idiot! restaurants and retail stores scramble to be the best at attending to the customer in order for them to have very limited time waiting for anything. getting has been become, for lack of a better word, a god.

there was a time when waiting was normal, waiting for letter, waiting for a product, waiting for ma or pa to come home from tending the farm. now, according to the standard of living, if our friend doesn't answer his phone when we want to know what he is doing tonight we are freaking out. if our same friend doesn't call us back in the next 5 minutes he/she is easily labeled "the one who doesn't ever answer their phone."

even if we were able to reduce every type of waiting to the smallest degree of a second, it wouldn't be enough it would still be too long.

reflect today on your life even 10-15 years ago. note any changes in technology that have had an influence on your life. for example, a cell phone wasn't really a big deal until i had graduated high school. email, seriously, i wasn't even sweating it until i got to college. with new discoveries i am growing more and more fascinated at the ability of technology to creative a more fluid life in some areas.

but consider the impact of technology on your life and consider the impact it has on your level and desire of wanting to be entertained. we, as a culture, are growing less capable of paying attention to anything longer than 5 minutes at a time. this is having an enormous effect on our entire lifestyle. 

the biggest of the impact has had what i believe to be on our relationship with the lord. not so much that we are watching more filth on the screen as creators seek to push the envelope a bit more every time, but the fact that our time is becoming more and more consumed by trinkets and gadgets that really change our relationship with our maker. if we could be honest, we would see a connection with our prayer life and our disdain for having to wait. we can get everything else the way we want it at the push of a button. why does it take god so long to answer?

rest in him and the provision of todays bread. 

stop wasting time on the latest advancements of the next apple product. 

stop wasting time checking facebook every 5 seconds to see if someone wrote something amazing about your status. 

stop wasting time and money on needing to see every movie that has ever been produced.

stop complaining about having to sit in church for 5 more minutes.

god will give you more joy in one ordinary day than a thousand watching glee.