Josiah Road

Forty Days in Exile

posted by Jonathan Frank 9Apr

Okay, so maybe not “in exile,” but that’s how it felt for a while. You see, at the beginning of March I gave up my biggest addiction for forty days—Facebook. I had just come back from a retreat at church in which the speaker had challenged us all to give up our most time-consuming, unessential habit for the next 40 days and use that time to grow closer to the Lord. As our speaker that weekend was explaining this concept to us, in my mind I tried to justify giving up other things—such as reading, schoolwork, trips to the dentist, etc. But I kept coming back to Facebook. I realized that at this point in my life, no one activity consumes more of my life than it. Pathetic, huh?

I have just over a week until I meet my goal. And honestly, it’s been difficult at times (Once again—pathetic, I know.), especially at the beginning. I was having serious withdrawals! But as I near the end of these forty days, I’m grateful for having done it, and I’ve learned a lot.

I’ve often heard people say that any activity that you devote more time to than your relationship with the Lord is more important to you than your relationship with God. I don’t like to admit that to myself, but simple logic tells us that is true. And I’m embarrassed to say, I had been spending more time on that silly Web site than with God! So while I wouldn’t flat out say to anyone, “I find Facebook to be more important in my life than Jesus Christ,” my actions relayed that message!

Throughout this process, I’ve learned that I was truly becoming dependent on a social-networking site, when I need to be dependent on Jesus! In the light of eternity, it won’t matter how many Facebook friends I had, how many “groups” I had joined, photos I was “tagged in,” or the number of people that had written on my “wall” in the last week. Really, who cares?

Before “Facebook,” “Myspace,” and every other fad that comes and goes, there has been and will always be a sovereign God that created us and loves us, and I want HIM to be what consumes my time, thought, and energy.