This past Monday morning as I was taking my normal route to work something caught my eye. A church I always pass by had changed out the sign in their front yard. The message read: WHEN YOU GET OFF FACEBOOK READ MY BOOK.

Each day on my way to work last week I couldn’t help but stare at the sign. The words coursed through my mind all week – particularly because I had just returned from a three-day retreat where the message to dive deeper into Scripture was practically pummeling me. God is persistent, you know? I guess after attacking ourselves with all of the lies (the way we perceive reality to be through social media), we are in even more need of arming ourselves with the Truth.

I have a love-hate relationship with social media. Communication with people from all stages of my life is at my fingertips because of social media. That’s the love part. On the contrary, social media is a gigantic time-suck. It often distracts me from doing things with greater purpose and from being present in the moment. We can’t possibly give every person we know the same amount of attention, therefore, those we are more intimate with deserve more time and attention. Social media spreads us so thin with our relationships as we strive to give more and more people a bigger slice of our time. Unfortunately, it usually does this to our relationships:

Those are the effects to our human relationships, but what then does social media do to our relationship with God? It steals our time with Him. It sucks us in and slowly pulls us farther and farther away from God. It’s happened with me. I often consider getting rid of it all together, but have not yet pulled the trigger. The irony of me posting this blog via social media is not lost on me. My blog just happens to be the major reason I have not said goodbye to social media altogether. I AM able to make a change though. This week I completely removed my social media apps from my phone. Instead of instantly being notified of the messages I receive, I now have to be intentional about when and how I use my time to check my social media accounts. It’s been quite a relief. It’s rather funny how social media tends to shackle and chain us. Without it’s constant presence, I feel so much FREEDOM.

What will you do, to choose HIS book over Facebook?

Share with me all the creative ways y’all choose to limit your screen-time – I want to hear what works for you!