By: Pastor Bob Vale; Middlebury First U.M.C.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
For the average American, cell phones have become a necessary attachment to our personal daily lives. Perhaps more than we would like to admit. If I leave the house and don’t have my cell phone with me, my “smart” car immediately tells me, and I quickly stop the car, turn around and go back home to retrieve it. I use it so much every day that I would be lost without it. God forbid that I might miss something that my phone is trying to tell me about.
During the day, I receive and send out many different personal texts, emails, pictures, notifications, calendar and appointment reminders, and even a warning or two if there is a bad storm on the horizon or if there is an Amber Alert.
Because our cell phones have become our personal assistant, quick photo recorder, and pocket size computer, we live with and rely on them day in and day out. Research tells us that the average person connects to their cell phone 96 times a day, and people use their phones over 5 hours each day! Wow! Even my 83-year-old parents are using their smartphones for many uses. When traveling to third world countries in Africa or Central America, I noticed even the poorest of the poor have cell phones and are hooked to them for daily information in the same way we Americans are.
Question: What if we treated our personal Bible like our cell phones? What if we connected to God through the Bible 96 times a day or thought to speak to God five hours out of a 24-hour day? (Wow, that is something to think about.) What if, in the morning, we left our home in our car and suddenly realized we forgot our Bible? Would we slam on the brakes and turn the car around to grab our personal Bible to get us through the day? Would we feel lost without our personal Bible by our side? Would we miss our daily connections with the God of the universe? (Who loves us and is trying to speak to us often!)
What if we texted God, sent a smiley face, thumbs up, or prayerful hands emoji, or sent daily emails to the Lord through reading our Bible and prayer? What if God is trying to send pictures in our minds and visions through our reading of the scriptures? (This is called “illumination.”) What if God’s will for our lives was directing our calendar and schedule through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives because we trusted Proverbs 3:5-6 to guide our paths? What if we used the bible and God’s voice to direct us daily, like we use our google maps to give us driving directions? Telling us to go this way or that way to follow God’s will.
What if we were bored or needed to fill some time, and instead of playing a game or watching a tic toc video on our cell phone, we took our Bible out and began reading the 23rd Psalm or a favorite scripture passage? What if God had warnings of bad storms about our life on the horizon and we listened to the still small voice of God, because we were reading the holy scriptures and a specific verse was sent to us directly from God to alter our direction giving us safety and Godly protection?
What if we treated our Bible like our cell phone? Would that make a difference in our lives? Would you feel lost without your personal Bible like you do when you forget your cell phone? It is certainly something to think about and perhaps make a unique difference in our Christian lives! By the way, you can place a Bible app on your phone for free and use it daily!
Grow till you Go!