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Rare is the day when someone doesn't say something to me like, "I just need a little more time…" I say it too.
Near the end of his biography on Whitfield, Arnold Dallimore offers this personal observation that is both an encouragement and exhortation:
When the present author is stirring at 7 in the morning, he frequently reminds himself that Whitfield had been active since 4. Arising at that early time, he spent the first hour in communion with God, reading and praying over a portion of the Scriptures, praising God and also interceding with Him for lost souls in general, and several in particular.
At 5 he preached, and virtually always to a host of men and women. John Newton, the converted slavetrader, stated, 'I have seen Moorfields as full of torches at 5 in the morning as the Haymarket is on a theatre night.' And by 7 Whitfield had often set out on an evangelistic journey or was writing letters or meeting the first number who came seeking spiritual advice.
I am aware of bloggers who blog with more consistency than me.
Just this morning, I read another blogger who asserted, "I blog every day…"
I don't.
A couple months ago, I went on vacation. While not "secluded," it was far enough away from "civilization" that my cell phone had no signal (Oh happy day!). And there was no DSL, cable, or wireless network nearby (public or private, as far as I knew). I could used my laptop modem and used a dial-up connection. After three or four days of no e-mail, I began to be liberated. Could I make it 11 days without email and internet? I could. And I did.
It was good.
It was good not be enslaved to the tyranny of the urgent. It was good to give undivided attention to my family. It was good for my soul. Every time I "unplug" I feel that way. It happened again a couple weeks ago — a long weekend, numerous "honey-do" tasks, and no email, internet, or blogging. Just my family, my bible, and some good books. It's a good thing.
Josh Harris summarized it well a few weeks ago when he reflected on a short-lived foray into the world of Facebook. He wrote this:
…I don't need another reason for staring at a computer screen. I'm constantly needing to evaluate is how much time I spend emailing, browsing and blogging. Now obviously a lot of that activity is good, useful work. But sometimes it can be a time-waster. I think God's been helping me improve at knowing when to unplug from cyberville and connect with the real, rich world of reality--playing with my kids, talking to my wife, taking a walk. Throwing Facebook in the mix of my online options is just a little too much for me right now.
The other reason I feel right about making my time with Facebook just a visit is a little harder to explain. How do I put this? I found that it encouraged me to think about me even more than I already do--which is admittedly already quite a bit. Does that make any sense? Without any help from the internet I'm inclined to give way too much time to evaluating myself, thinking about myself and wondering what other people think of me. If that egocentrism is a little flame, than Facebook for me is a gasoline IV feeding the fire. I need to grow in self-forgetfulness. I need to worry more about what God is thinking of me. I need to be preoccupied with what he's written in his word, not what somebody just wrote on my "wall."
So I will do my best to post regular thoughts about the Word of God, ministry, and life application of Scripture. But if I'm not here for a few days or more, it's probably better for my soul...
