It can be very hard to find rest in our world.  Between a Blackberry, kids, the home phone and social media, it can be hard to focus on anything, much less rest.

One study found that people who are interrupted by technology score 20 percent lower on a standard cognition test.  A second demonstrated that some students, even when on their best behavior, can’t concentrate on homework for more than two minutes without distracting themselves by using social media or writing an email.

We always wonder what we’re missing, what we should be doing, even when we’re supposed to be resting.  With technology, we don’t have to suppress that – we can always know, we can always be available.

People say it’s harder and harder to unplug.

Even as I wrote this, I found myself turning to all kinds of distractions – it’s always when I try to focus on writing that I decide some amazing new change needs to be made to the app or social media.  This makes it hard to work and rest – I’m constantly blending the two, and doing neither well as a result.

For this year’s vacation, I committed to turning my smartphone off, and only checking in once a day to make sure things are running smoothly with Redeem the Commute.  I’ll have to physically make sure my phone isn’t around, because I know I’ll be tempted otherwise.

But that isn’t a foolproof formula – I can always go get my smartphone if I get too curious.  Find rest can’t just be about strategies – because our problem is inside us.  There is something inside me that is still wanting to check email, check the news, etc.

We’ll explore what that is, and what to replace it with this week.

Question: How do you “unplug” and rest?  What strategies do you use?

Ryan Sim - January 2, 2014

Thursday - Act On It - The Night That Changed the Wise

We’re been exploring the contrast between the Magi and the Priests and Scribes who advise King Herod. The priests and scribes, the insiders, do nothing, and give nothing to the Messiah they have supposedly studied in depth. While Magi, the outsiders and travellers, do something and give their gifts of treasure and worship, and make great sacrifices to do so. None of us here are as powerful as Herod, as knowledgeable as the Magi or Scribes and Pharisees, but as you can see it’s not just about knowledge, it’s about our openness to God acting in our world, even in unexpected ways, that really matters. We have something to learn from the contrast between the Priests and Scribes and the Magi. Given the same knowledge and experience, the Magi and Priests use it very differently. So we, given knowledge in this world, also have choices as to how we will use them. We are given the knowledge that the message of Jesus Christ will change the lives of our family and friends for the better. He will transform our world from one ruled over by fear and manipulation to one ruled over by love and peace. What will we do with it? Like the priests and scribes, will we have all the info, and do nothing? Or like the Magi, will we go to all possible lengths to worship this God, giving him our very best gifts? Giving of our time, resources and even our power, to greet him as our Lord. So today, with the same history presented to us, we decide how we will go down in history...as knowing much but doing nothing, or as worshipping the true King of love and peace. Challenge: Explore Jesus this coming year – take c101, get in touch with me. In the process,s you can see if Christian faith is wise, rational, etc. for yourself. Reminder: We are reading the Bible in sync as one community - so check out today's reading at https://www.redeemthecommute.com/readingplan Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting January 22nd. Register for you and a friend today at https://www.redeemthecommute.com/events/!

From Series: The Night that Changed Everything | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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