Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 7:12, 10:10
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.
For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
Yes, there is a time for everything. And wisdom will give you the insight on how to take advantage of the moment. Especially when it comes to the utilization of technology in your personal life.
In my lifetime, I have experienced the birth of email, internet, and smart phones. Along with learning how best to use all three for corporate use, I have slowly revamped myself in using such labor-saving devices as a servant rather than a god of my personal life.
Technology is awesome. I like to think God Almighty has open the doors to give us a mechanical taste of how HE operates the universe. I speculate that HE must have some type of software to operate the entire universe and has given humanity a portion of the same diagram to operate our lives. Whether or not that be true, I am one who is thankful and grateful for modern technology.
Yet at the same time, I am scared. Scared that many people have not yet learned to manage technology and instead have allowed technology to rule them. Instead of recognizing the problem, we now hide behind technology. Instead of directly relating with people, we hide behind our screens. Instead of sharing our real selves with others, we create webpages highlighting the romantic ideal picture of what we want others to think of us and hide the other broken human aspects. As a people we have lost touch connecting with others in a deep and profound way. We are losing what it means to be human.
The trap is replacing the personal connection with a technological image. Instead of breaking down walls between people, we now build walls with our technological boxes. When you observe in restaurants a family gather together and each person playing with their smart phones instead of directly communicating with each other, something is lost. The ability to communicate and relate in an intimate way is being taken over by a box.
In my younger days, we witnessed the same when television sets started to show up in people’s homes. People initially gathered together and watched a one-hour special program and then spent the time thereafter discussing the show. Move forward twenty years later, and people would gather around the TV and watch four hours of programing and spend maybe five minutes in total time sharing their thoughts with each other. Technology has made us lazy in human effort.
Television and all other technology devices are great time savers of efficiency. But are also very alluring to capture our attention away from relating with people. When technology replaces people in your life, beware. You have entered the danger zone. You have become addicted to a virtual reality instead of real life. Virtual reality may satisfy your immediate gratification. But like all things worth pursuing, the best things in life take work, effort, and self-discipline to achieve. When it comes to the human experience and maximizing your human potential, nothing is better than direct one-on-one connection with another person. Where the human reality of intimacy, ideas, and values are shared and discussed. Without that personal touch, we are treating technology as a god to worship rather than a tool to assist us in being more human.
Don’t let your technological devices rule you. Instead realize the problem and learn to manage the tools for your human experience. The tools in your life are to maximize your potential as a human, not live trapped behind the dictates of a techno god.
So, make wisdom your friend. Spend more time acquiring similar friends and learn from them. When you combine wisdom with technology then your world will open up and you will experience what it means to be fully human. Bottom-line: technological traps keep you from fully living and experiencing your human potential. Isn’t that worth overcoming?
Rooting For You in Christ!
Dr. Mike
Encourager, Faith-Integrator, Scribbler
Learn & Grow Study-Guides:
- Stay Free…Avoid Worldly Traps
- Overflowing Prayers Rooted in Jesus Christ v1 & v2
- Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
- Great Business Emulates a Good God
- Be Radical…Follow Christ!
- Simply The Messenger
- Unequally Married
Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!
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