Reading
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21
Reflection
Many of us do not want to spend as much time on screens as we do, particularly our phones. Different studies show a range of results, but on the whole they show that the average American spends somewhere between three and six hours daily on their phone.
Taking the low end of the range, at three hours per day over the course of a year, people are spending 45 days on their phones—a month and a half! If you factor in eight hours for sleeping, it’s 68 days—over two months. Ouch.
This is clearly not how we want to spend our lives. But in the moment, we give in to whatever we’re feeling—or trying not to feel—and pick up our phones. As Pastor Mark said on Sunday, “The trick is to live the way we intentionally want, not just according to how we feel.”
Most people have tried to reduce their phone use through willpower, but willpower simply can’t compete with the addictive tactics smartphones employ. We need something else. Arthur Brooks writes, “You need to set rules and boundaries for yourself, treat yourself with respect, and learn how to act in the way you want to act, not at every moment how you feel.”
When trying to set rules around a smartphone, one great first step is giving your phone a place to sleep that isn’t in your bedroom. This way, you don’t have to fight the temptation to look at your phone last thing before bed or first thing in the morning. Your rule keeps you from needing to rely on willpower.
As a next step, you might make your phone stay in that spot even when you’re awake rather than in your hand or your pocket so that it’s inconvenient to get on your phone. Or you might place your Bible on top of your phone at night so that you literally have to pick up your Bible before you can pick up your phone.
As Jesus teaches us, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And as we are learning in the 21st century, we may have no greater treasure than our attention. How might you create rules for yourself that help you to give your attention to what matters most? These small rules can make a big difference toward helping us live our lives intentionally, experiencing the life we long for, and the life God longs to give us.
Prayer
God of abundance,
We are distracted by many things.
Help us to give our attention
To the things that give life—
The people in our lives,
the places where we can serve,
the beauty of the world you made
so that we can fully experience
the life you offer.
Amen.