Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.” ~Exodus 32:1 (NASB2020 – emphasis added)

God created us to worship. It’s instilled in our very souls. No matter who you are or what your background is, you will find something or someone to worship, even if you aren’t trying to do so. And that is a good thing ⏤ until it isn’t. The problem lies at when we choose to worship the creation rather than the Creator.

It’s easy to be pulled away from the things of God, especially in today’s society with our many sources of instant gratification and amazing technologies. Information instantly accessible from around the world ⏤ in our pockets ⏤ was not even a pipe dream not that many years ago. And as useful as that access can be, as time goes on, we are learning it comes at a heavy price. When we’re holding our Bibles less than our smartphones, it doesn’t take long before we make idols of those smartphones. And when we cross that line, not only are we blatantly sinning against our God and getting less exposure to the things of God (which have profound and eternal benefits), but we are allowing ourselves to worship things that ought not be worshipped.

Another aspect of our obsession with our smartphones is we are a culture addicted to affirmation. And, if we’re going to be honest about it, our smartphones have lead many down very dark roads. They encourage the very affirmation God wants us to avoid with the constant need for “likes” and followers. This “need” has tragically lead to some teenagers’ suicides! If that doesn’t tell us we have a problem we need to address, I don’t know what does.

When it comes to society’s obsession (worship) with smartphones, we are learning that the devices themselves, as well as the apps ‘we have to’ install, are designed to encourage (demand) constant attention. Just the default notification settings alone should warn us that something isn’t right. By default all notifications are activated on every app on your device! Seriously, is it really that important that I know the moment someone I haven’t seen in forty years posted what he had for supper three months ago? As I see it, willingly allowing our smartphones to take over our lives with their constant dings and vibrations so we can get regular doses of dopamine is worshipping that which is not meant to be worshipped. Now, back to the story in Exodus.

When God saw what the Israelites were up to, He sent Moses down the mountain to deal with them, saying, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.” ~Exodus 32:9 (NASB2020 – emphasis added by me) Allowing ourselves to be exposed to the worst of society, with all of the manipulation, bullying and the promotion of self-worship that social media has to offer instead of what God intended for our lives is the definition of being “obstinate“. The narcissistic mindset that social media glorifies does us far more harm than good. In contrast, spending time in the Bible and in prayer and meditation with our Creator nourishes our relationship with God and elevates our self-worth by teaching us that the world was never meant to revolve around us, but Him!

So what do we do about this problem? The answer is pretty simple in theory but might prove to be difficult in practice. You ready? Here it goes: Put your phone down. Pick your Bible up! Let me say that again: PHONES DOWN, BIBLES UP! It’s that simple! Develop the habit of limiting your “screen time” to free up more time with God. It won’t be easy for some of us. Habits normally take about sixty-six days to form, or just over two months. That’s really not that long! And with prayers asking God to help you, it won’t be long at all! And know this, I’m already praying for you!

~ Shalom! Shalom! ☧

* Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.