“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Social media has seeped into every aspect of our lives. The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook is now worth $245 billion. The reason why it’s so popular is because it allows us to keep in touch with people. It gives us the platform to express our opinions and our lives. And to be honest, it feels good when people respond to us. When comments show up on a recent post, it affirms who we are and what’s important to us.
But isn’t there something we’re missing amidst all the likes and comments? What about actual connection? Is Facebook something that exists for us just to keep tabs on each other? The truth is it’s easier to hide behind a computer screen than to engage people. Shouldn’t it really be called unsocial media?
I’ve begun policing myself by asking some hard questions: “Why am I posting this rather than calling a friend?” And, “If none of my friends were on Facebook, would I know what is going on in their lives?”
It seems paradoxical to be ambitious about leading a quiet, private life, but that is what the Apostle Paul asks of the Christians in Thessalonica. He was trying to stop the schemes of the busybodies of his day. I think we can take his advice in order to put balance in our lives.
Making real connections with the people God has put in our lives is the way we fulfill our destiny. Social media only resembles real connection. Putting down our devices and reaching a hand to the people directly around us gives us real significance.
Lord, show me my motivation for using social media. Am I keeping real connections with the people in my life? Is the draw of expressing my views and sharing my life with a bigger audience leading me away from the people you have placed in my immediate path? Show me how to use my time wisely and bring balance to my day. Amen.
Action: Take a Facebook fast. Reduce the amount of time you spend on social media for a week. Or make a deal with yourself that for every check of your news feed or every post you make, you must call or meet face-to-face with one friend. (That’s right, call. Texting doesn’t count!)
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29
God created you in His image and designed an intricate plan for your life—a plan to redeem, restore, and refine your character to reflect the character of His Son, Jesus. As you journey through your day, I invite you to reflect on my poem, “Tapestry.”
My life’s a woven tapestry, I so often fail to see,
The perfect weaving of the loom at work inside of me.
Every day, I look unfinished, and find it hard to understand,
My tapestry’s great splendor seeking all my Lord has planned.
In times of pain and suffering, when trust and pain collide,
I long to see the finished work, but I can only view the underside:
A tangled web of knots and threads, caught up in such a mess,
I know His work’s unfinished, and in His tender hands, I rest.
His needlework is perfect, in every stitch His love is told,
The crafting of His handiwork in priceless threads of gold.
I must trust the master weaver, who knows my life’s great plan.
So I’ll let Him sow his perfect will, though I may not understand.
My life’s a treasured tapestry that I shall walk in faith to see,
As I feel the nails as needles sow his tender love through me.
And when His work is finished on the topside may I see,
The perfect image of my Savior, on my life’s great tapestry.
You are a living tapestry—a masterpiece in progress—created to authentically reflect God’s image and glory.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem me and for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Help me to realize I am a work in progress and to keep my eyes on Jesus. May His refining fire sanctify my soul and transform my character and heart to reflect Jesus. Amen.
Before you begin your busy day, ask yourself today, how can I become more like Jesus? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to become more like Jesus—to see the world and those around you through His eyes.
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