Joys and Woes

NOTE: I was going through old posts and came across a few drafts that hadn't been posted yet...this was one of them.  I did have to update a few things as it was originally written in 2009!  But here it is!

Today I was talking...or more like texting....a friend. We were talking about how nice technology is and how easy it is making it for people to stay in touch more. For me, I know that I love Facebook because I'm a terrible one for keeping up with writing letters to my friends (most of them live very, very far away). Every day I can get on and see what new bits of new they have posted...some of them write something new everyday or every other day. It is so much simpler (or lazy) than sitting down and writing a letter, waiting for a reply, and then writing another letter back. You then repeat the process over and over until some one doesn't reply and so much time has gone by that you lose touch a a good friend...so sad! :-{

So, I really enjoyed getting on FB and re-establishing some communication with friends, until....I realized that I couldn't let a day go by where I'm not on FB for at least a few hours. Of course, some of that time is spent playing some of those addicting games that FB has.

In the Bible it says that thou shalt have no other God but me...do we spend more time on the computer than with God. If we do then it has become an idol in our life.  Now I know that some people, like me, have business that takes place on the computer. And it is not bad or wrong to play games on the computer or other types of gaming technology, but it does become bad when you are spending more time with those things while other areas of your life suffer.  My family has at times struggled with the technology in our house. What have been the consequences of this? Getting behind in school, the house not being as clean as it should be, dinner doesn't get made until very, very late, the yard work gets behind, and the list could go on.

So is technology good or bad? Well, in my very humble opinion I say both. Good because for those of us who have friends and family so far away it's so nice to have a convenient way to keep in touch (my brother lives in Germany so it's the only way we keep in touch through email and skype). 

Bad because slowly but surely we are losing so much more than we even realize.  Our lives in the real world are put on hold while we may spend hours online looking at all kinds of interesting information or playing games.  Even when you're not online you could be a room full of people and they all text each other...even though they are sitting right next to each other!  Our English language skills are declining- have you seen a recent text or IM message? Sometimes I have to call my younger more text-versed siblings to translate!!

The bible says that:

I Corinthians 6:12

"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"

It's important to remember, that while something may not be bad, it must be done in the right way.  There is a time and a place to use the advances we've had in technology, but it's important to take care that it doesn't run our lives or take the place of God in our life.

 

Is technology, for all its good, a curse? Have we placed it up as an idol instead of focusing on God? What are your thoughts??