“Lord, let me keep Your Word as close to me as I keep my cell phone.”
I wrote those words on my Facebook page on February 13, 2016.
Three years ago.
Facebook, being the loving and caring datamining entity that it is, reminded me of it this morning when I awoke.
It got me thinking…
I wake up, and I look at my phone.
I check my email, my Facebook, my texts, the weather, etc.
Then I unplug my phone, roll out of bed, and begin preparing for my day.
All the while, my Bible sits on my bedside table. Ignored.
It’s right there, sitting next to my phone!
And it stays there…
While my phone, so treasured by me, travels around the house with me, captures my attention with tiny bings, blinks, and buzzes, and becomes more an extension of me than my own arms.
I venture outside, start my car, and lovingly place my phone in its car cradle.
A cradle! The thing is so precious to me that I treat it like a newborn baby!
I go about my day, and my phone is ever at my side.
When I work, when I play, when I nothing and nothing and nothing, my phone is always faithful to be there and meet my needs.
When I am lonely, I can look directly into the completely honest lives of other people on the internet.
When I am hungry I can order food trough any number of gracious and caring apps.
When my enemies surround me I can lay waste to them with scathing yelp! reviews.
My phone is always there for me.
And when I forget an appointment, or fail to remember a friend’s birthday, my phone is there to remind me.
It is faithful, even when I am not.
I love my phone.
And then I return home and sit on the couch to watch tv or read a book, and my phone is right there. Keeping me company.
Sometimes it’s such good company that I don’t even watch my show, let alone read that silly book.
Why would I, when I have my wonderful, wonderful phone?
It’s everything I need.
It brings me security.
It makes me feel safe.
It causes me to be relaxed no matter where I am.
Even when things start to feel dark and desperate around me, I can always turn on my phone to distract me or use the flashlight to guide my steps.
When I am unskilled, I can watch YouTube tutorials.
When I am foolish, I can access Wikipedia.
My phone gives me everything I need for life.
Then I retire to my room.
I go through my pre-bed routine (with my phone always close by, just in case).
Then I snuggle under the covers, and open my phone one last time, as I plug it in, bid the world goodnight, and place it gently on my nightstand.
Nice and close to me.
On my nightstand.
Next to my Bible…
Yikes…
This is, of course, an exaggeration. But only somewhat. There’s still a fair amount of truth in the day presented above.
After three years; after thirty-six months; after 156 weeks; after 1,095 days, do I keep God’s Word any closer?
Is it as close to me as my cell phone?
“Well, I have a Bible app on my cell phone, so I’d say Yes.”
No, that’s not what I mean.
I mean do I hold onto the truth of the Word of God as tightly as I hold my cell phone when I’m… well, doing everything?
I think if I’m honest with myself, I would have to say No. No, I do not.
Because every morning I walk out of my home and I have my cell phone.
And my Bible is still on the nightstand.
So, I guess I need to be brutally honest with myself, and truly ask the question: Lord, am I keeping Your Word as close to me as I keep my cell phone?
Beyond the Garden 