What do you do when you first wake up in the morning?
If you’re like me, then the first thing you do is turn off your alarm on your phone. After turning off the alarm, you then pick up your phone and start going through your early morning routine, illumined only by the glow of your phone.
My routine included:
• Check blog stats and comments.
• Check Facebook.
• Check Instagram.
• Check email.
• Check Twitter and go through the 200 tweets I missed while sleeping.
That routine didn’t always stay contained to my bed. In fact, going through Twitter often takes me at least 20 or 30 minutes. Not only do I look at every tweet, but I also click on links, read different stories and watch various videos while going through my timeline. So even when waking up at 7:00 in the morning, I wouldn’t even really get my day started until 7:30. And once I had started my day on my phone, it was easy to move onto another device and get even deeper into the Internet on my laptop.
I’m not opposed to technology and I’m not opposed to social media. I have found, though, that my use of technology and social media in the morning have a tremendously detrimental impact on my devotional life.
Mark 1:35 says:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Jesus was so busy that he couldn’t even enter a town without a crowd forming around him. Yet he still found time, early in the morning, while it was still dark, to spend time with God.
Even if I woke up early in the morning, while it was still dark, I wouldn’t have time for God because the first thing I do in the morning is grab my phone and start my social media routine.
In order to stem the tide of my social media morning routine, I bought an alarm clock. I bought an alarm clock to wake me up in the morning so that my phone can charge safely out of reach in the living room. I’m in the habit of turning off my alarm and grabbing my phone; I’m hoping to break that habit by not even having my phone in the same room.
I want to be more committed to my devotional life and I think this is one small act that can help me accomplish that goal. We don’t have to spend time with God in the morning, but I know that starting my day with my Bible in my hands will make my day better than starting it with my phone in my hands.
What helps you be committed to your devotional life?
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