Life BC

Life BC (before cell phones) was better. It seems to me that life has gotten more complicated. Nowadays people are tied to jobs with a cell phone and an employer has access to an employee during hours normally reserved for family time. It’s not just work ties though, it’s also other relationships. Friends think they have access to you 24/7.

I remember when we had a phone on the wall and when we left the house we were out of touch with our family until we arrived home again or found a pay phone. Pay phones were ten cents and then the price increased to a quarter. We could also call home from our friends’ landlines.

If we sat down to eat and the phone rang, then we let it ring. We had an answering machine to record messages. Before that, it was no big deal. We knew the people would call back until they got someone on the line.

What happened when we went out to eat? We actually talked to the people we went out to eat with. Wait staff didn’t come right away to get your order if you were chatting. They waited until you were looking at the menus.

Cell phone addiction has become common place.

You see cell phone addiction at restaurants a lot. Mom and Dad are on their phones and the kids are trying to get their attention. You would think that kids would be the biggest offenders, but they learned their bad habits from their adult counterparts.

I’ve seen cell phone addiction on the street. People will be crossing an intersection in the crosswalk with their nose in their phone and pushing a stroller. If you had told me that 40 years ago I would never have believed you.

I see cell phone addiction on the commuter train in the morning. Parents get a few precious moments to spend with their kids and they choose to spend it scrolling reels instead of loving on their kids.

Cell phone addiction is real. Even I struggle with it.

Here’s how I combat the evil small box that we love more than anything in our lives:

At a restaurant: cell phone is in the purse.

At a friend’s home: cell phone is in the purse.

At church events: cell phone is in the purse.

I have even gone to work without my cell phone. I realized I forgot it on the road and instead of going back to get it, I chose to go to work. I should not be on it at work so why go back to get it? If I needed to make a phone call I had my work phone to call from.

Try going a day without your cell phone and you’ll realize the degree of your addiction. If you absolutely could not leave your cell phone at home, you may have a problem. Unless you live at my building where entrance is through the cell phones.

Try leaving your cell phone in the trunk of your car while you are at lunch with friends. Can you do it? If not, you may have a problem.

Cell phones waste a lot of hours and you only have 24 in a day. If you sleep 8 hours work 8 hours and spend 8 hours on your phone, when does anything get done? When is there time in your schedule for God?

1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 37:1-2

Scripture should be the Christian’s obsession, not their cell phones. We can justify our actions claiming to be spreading God’s word or we can confess our sins and ask God to show us any offensive ways in us. His Word IS a delight. His word is light and life. Are Facebook and TikTok reels light and life????

Confession is good for the soul. It cleans us.

Prayer: Father God, I confess my unholy attachment to my phone. I repent of being endeared to it more than your Word. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Social media isn’t. Lord, help me to detach from the things of this world and to attach to the things that are important to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.