Can You Live Unplugged?

From 6 PM Monday until Tuesday noon I alternated intense feelings. I went from panic to ecstasy and relaxation. I was amazed at the alternating deep emotions.

All these emotions were caused by the same event. My cell phone had been either lost or stolen. I didn’t know which one. As I tried to piece the events and my tracks together, I couldn’t quite understand what had taken place.

All I knew was that my phone was gone and with it a great deal of my daily life and work. That’s what caused the panic.

At the same time, I felt great peace. After all, I couldn’t check email, text anyone, or check news, weather, or sports. That’s what brought such a relaxing effect to my life.

I didn’t have anything to do, and it felt really good.

The good news – – or was it bad news? – – was that I finally tracked down my phone. It had been lost in some of my activity the previous day.

The relaxation I felt must have been something of what God intended when he gave us the Sabbath day. I’ve written about the Sabbath recently.

God made us with internal clocks that need to slow down. We need to have time to think seriously about things that matter.

That’s what my Sunday worship does for me. It gets me away from the work, work, work world, and it takes me to a place where I have to think about what’s really important.

No wonder there is so much anxiety in the world. When we don’t worship God or spend time with God’s family, anxiety is going to be the natural result.

When we don’t hear God’s Word proclaimed, what is going to be the antidote for anger, resentment, and bitterness? Spending time with God and God’s people helps us with life.

Maybe the horrible events of the last two weeks are the result of people who don’t know God, don’t know God’s people, and don’t spend any time with either.

We all need time to get away from the anxieties of life and the cares of the world and fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

I really didn’t want to lose my cell phone, and I don’t really want to live without it. It simply did me good to be without it – – to get to spend some quality time with myself, my Lord, and Martha.

God created us for this. Let’s take advantage of it.

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