Recently, God placed it on my heart to step away (fast) from all media for a month. This burden was born within me after I read Charlie Kirk's last book on the sabbath. In it he makes a compelling case for just how much the digital age is devastating our society. The incessant dopamine drip of digital consumption is fracturing our relationships, robbing us of sleep, ravaging our health, hollowing out our souls and districting us from what life is really all about.
Honestly, I really didn't think I had a big problem with media consumption. But, in the process of stepping away I discovered that it had a far deeper hold on my life than I had realized. Stepping away was far more challenging than I ever imagined it would be. But, in the process of doing so, God taught me some valuable lessons.
Please allow me to share some of them with you here.
A media fast enhances your walk with God.
While spending daily time with God has been my practice for quite some time, the subtle temptations of media had crept in to rob me of the focus necessary to really commune with God. It is nearly impossible to "Be still and know that I am God" when you have text messages to answer, emails to respond to and social media notifications to check out. Without these modern distractions, a curious thing happened within my soul...something I had not even realized was missing: I began to feel again spiritually.
In these days, my communion with God deepened immensely. The the time in God's Word and in reading spiritual books spoke to me deeply. The time of prayer was a time to truly worship and connect with God on a level I had never enjoyed before.
More than anything else, a time of fasting is supposed to draw you closer in your fellowship with and dependence upon God. Unquestionably, this is what happens when you take a digital fast. As the Bible says, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1)
A media fast encourages you to be present.
The draw of continual digital consumption has caused us to become harmfully distracted on so many levels. We all have seen the evidence of this. You walk into a room of people who, instead of conversing with each other, are all face-down and focused-in on their phones. What we have lost in our digital addiction is the ability to simply be present.
Without this distraction in my life, I rediscovered some things I didn't even realize I was missing. Communicating with my wife, playing with my kids, enjoying a sunset, meeting a new acquaintance, helping a person in need, hearing a good story...these are all things we often miss when we are distracted from being present.
Life is so fleeting. My kids are growing up so fast. I don't want to waste any more moments on things that don't matter. God has convinced me of the vital importance of not allowing tech to rob you of being present and enjoying each precious moment of life.
"And the LORD said to Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there..." (Exodus 24:12)
A media fast enables you to seize the moment.
Here recently the developers of the iPhone have produced a weekly report that outlines for you in specific detail how much time you spent on your device in any given week. Typically, I receive this report every Sunday. And many times the report I receive feels like a slap in the face.
Why is it so alluring to spend hours each day on our devices? The average American spends four and a half hours each day glancing at their smart phone. (That adds up to about seventy days a year!) To add insult to injury, the average American also spends three and a half hours each day watching some form of television. (That results in another fifty-three days a year!) When you look at the impact of this, what it translates to is the average American wasting 123 days each year consuming some form of media. We are literally amusing ourselves to death!
Now imagine if, instead of wasting all those countless hours on media, you used that time for things that really matter. A digital fast enables you to seize the moments you have forfeited to tech. For most Americans, simply stepping away from tech will mean getting over forty hours of precious time back on any given week.
Consider what you could do with additional forty hours in your week. You could read a book, help a friend, go on a date with your spouse, spend time with your kids, work out, budget your finances, and a host of other things you've often complained that you "just don't have the time to do." For most of us, the problem is not that we don't have time, but it is that we are not using the time we have rightly.
Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us this, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Stepping away from media for a while will enable you to retrain your brain to seize the moments of your life and not allow them to be stolen away.
How about you?
After taking this thirty-one day fast, my life has been changed for the better. I have found I no longer need or desire the amount of media I consumed before this. It has helped me learn to focus more on things that really matter. I plan to regularly practice seasons of fasting from tech.
With all my heart, I would like to recommend for you to take a tech timeout yourself. I have no doubt that you will grow in ways you didn't even realize you needed to as you choose to do so.
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