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 1, 2014

Wednesday - Change It - The Night That Changed the Wise

Happy New Year! We’ve been looking at the story of the Magi or wise men visiting Jesus, now we’ll contast them with the priests and scribes who were present at their meeting with Herod (see yesterday’s Bible reading). The scribes and priests are also knowledgeable, learned like the Magi. They are called to advise Herod on this apparent threat to his rule – is a new king of the Jews, or the Messiah, really going to be born? These experts on the scriptures end up helping him with his plan to have the wise men quietly scout things out for Herod, so he can swoop in and violently remove the threat. But first, Herod needed to know where in Judea this “king” would be born. This was a question the priests/scribes could answer immediately – they knew the scriptures, the history and answer that it’s Bethlehem, the city of David. The priests and scribes had all the information to know the messiah was coming, and coming imminently. But they did nothing but advise his enemy. Perhaps in their view, the arrival of the Messiah represents a threat to their power and authority in their culture, and to peace with the Romans. So they go home...Herod will neutralize threat. They advise and move on. Question: What intellectual risks are involved in following Jesus? How do you calculate those? 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

Discuss

More Messages Associated With "Jesus"...

Powered by Series Engine