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Has social media become an idol?

 

In this week’s Bible study, we were studying Manasseh, son of King Hezekiah. He was an evil man who worshipped idols, sacrificed his children to idols and indulged in witchcraft (2nd Chronicles 33:6). It demonstrates God’s love, that when Manasseh finally repented, God forgave him (2 Chronicles 33:10-20). Nothing is beyond the love and forgiveness of our mighty Creator God. The immensity of God’s love is also reflected in the story of the prodigal son. We have so much to be grateful for, knowing that Jesus died for our sin once and for all. That God loves us so much, that even though we sin repeatedly we are not beyond His forgiveness.

This scripture stimulated a discussion on idols and one of our group named social media as an idol. This thought resonated with me, especially when I see children trying to get the attention of their parent who is too busy on their cell phone to take any notice. As children of God, are we also too busy to notice our Heavenly Father when he gently calls to us.

I think there are positives and negatives around social media. I am personally encouraged and often challenged while watching or listening to Christian podcasts, Instagram clips and other. I have access to Christian resources through the internet, Facebook and email. It is also great to be able to communicate with family and friends via text or messaging and Mr Google can be extremely helpful.  The flipside is of course first that less than savoury content can be viewed by susceptible or ungodly people, and people can use social media as their only form of communication and socialisation. There is also the bullying and instant gratification and I’m sure you can think of many other negatives to the whole social media influence.

So, can social media be an idol? An idol is anything that takes our time away from God; anything that means more to us than God. Now that doesn’t mean you should never be on social media. As mentioned above, it can be a useful tool in our Christian walk and in our daily lives. The question therefore is, am I spending so much time on social media that I am neglecting time in the Word or time talking to God? He must come first. Life is nothing without Him. He is our all. So may I encourage you today, to consider the time spent on social media. My prayer would be that God would always come first in your life, and social media is simply an additional benefit and blessing from a gracious God.

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