Turn off the TV fast - part 2
Today is the first day of our television fast. I have unhooked the antenna and plan on putting the TV in the basement later on today.Over the last few years I have watched less and less television, and I welcome a complete reprieve from any lure to "numb my mind" and relax in front of the television. I hope to enjoy better time with the family and read more.
I hope that in every decision I make, that the wisdom that guides is biblical wisdom. And that goes for what decisions I have concerning television and even why we are getting rid of it for a month.
I believe that is what has guided my second reason for fasting from television during the month of August. Ephesians 5:16 exhorts me to "make the best use of the time" (ESV). That means that I must always be seeking ways to improve my time (Jonathan Edwards has a great sermon on Ephesians 5:16 - check it out!!). I must be a good steward of the time God gives me and so I must be actively striving to make the most of the brief time I have here on earth.
I am quite certain that at the end of my life I will not be boasting of the hours I spent watching Lost or AFV or whatever program or movie. Quite the contrary, I believe those will be considered hours that the locust ate (Joel 2:25) and there will be regret and even shame. When I stand before God someday, my joy will be in reflecting on the time I spent in His presence or in active service to Him, my sorrow will be in how I wasted my precious moments in fluff and selfish ambitions.
And so, for the month of August at least, we will refrain from television because I am quite certain that watching television is not the best usage of my time.
Jonathan Edwards: Resolution #5
"Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."
posted by David at 12:28 PM
2 Comments:
Hhhmmmmm . . . Well, ours isn't off, but I have found myself turning it off, and turning on the radio more often :) Cutting grass in the RAIN cut some TV watching too! :) Keep on encouraging us - we ARE listening :)
Here's a nifty poem from off of Thabiti Anyabwile's blog, Pure Church:
The TV is my shepherd,
I shall want more.
It makes me lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the faith;
It destroys my soul.
It leads me in the path of sex and violence
for the sponsor's sake.
Yeah, though I walk in the shadow of Christian responsibility,
there will be no interruption, for the TV is with me.
It's cables and remote control, they comfort me.
It prepares a commercial for me in the presence of my worldliness;
It anoints my head with humanism and consumerism;
My coveting runneth over.
Surely, laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house watching TV for ever.
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