The Life of a 21st Century Christian

 

My alarm rang and I stretched out my hand to the bedside stool to shut it up. I clicked on the power button of my phone to see what time it was.

It was 5.am.

Already?

I grumbled within myself for a few seconds about how it seemed like I had just slept for thirty minutes.

Phone still in hand, I sprang into the bathroom to wee. I did not even bother to look for a torchlight. I was going to use the light that beamed from the screen of my phone as a source of light.

I sat on the toilet bowl. Notifications flooded my phone, announcing their arrival with different sounds.

Where do I start from? “My Whatsapp first” I said to myself. I opened the app and found messages from 10 different people and about 70 messages from one of the Whatsapp groups. I opened each chat and glanced through the messages. “I wouldn’t respond to the messages now. I would do that on my way to work in the staff bus” I said to myself.

I opened my Yahoo mail and then my Gmail account. I replied a mail that needed my attention.

I migrated to my Facebook account to find 30 notifications and 5 inbox messages. I opened each notification and clicked the like button on some of the posts. I scrolled down the news feed for a few minutes. I grinned at a few posts, hissed at one and felt compelled to read the comments on the post of a friend who had put up a controversial post.

It was then it crossed my mind to check the time. Ha, 5:45 am it was. I dropped my phone on the bed, fled to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The kids had spent the night with their grandma and my husband had to embark on an impromptu journey so I was home alone.

It was 6:40am when I came out of the bath. I quickly dressed up, packed my food in a flask and rushed out of the house so that I wouldn’t miss the bus that was to arrive at my bus stop by 7:15 am.

I had gotten to the fourth house from ours when i remembered that I had forgotten my phone charger and my companion- the battery pack.

No way.

I headed back to the house. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw the bus approaching just as I got to the bus stop.

I greeted my colleagues as I made my way to a vacant seat at the rear end of the bus. I tried to catch my breath after the very brisk walk I had from my house to the bus stop.

Then I remembered the funny comments I had begun reading earlier.  I just couldn’t help but laugh at various comments on the thread. I kept refreshing the feed to load more comments until suddenly the bus came to a halt.

We all filed out of the bus and gathered in the common room for prayers. My immediate boss asked to see me in his office. He handed me a file which needed urgent attention. I was on this assignment until it was 1:30pm.

I held my phone with my left hand and scrolled through Twitter while i ate the food I brought from home. I was about putting the last spoon of my food in my mouth when I heard my name: “Omolola!”

I dropped the spoon and looked around but saw no one. The voice then came again, this time with a question. “Don’t you miss me?” I became sober. I just remembered I had not communicated with God at all that day.

I couldn’t even remember when last I had observed my quiet time. I now solely depended on the family devotions that we had in the mornings.

I always had things to check on social media. My phone was constantly on duty however, my Bible app was redundant. I couldn’t remember when last I opened it. As a matter of fact, I had not opened my Bible of my own accord in over three months.

Sounds familiar?

Well, let’s continue with my experience for now. . .

I was saddened by the realization of how far I had fallen and how misplaced my priorities were.

“I am sorry Lord” was what I managed to mutter with a shaky voice.

I asked for strength to beat the addiction I was suffering from.

Right there at that table I mapped out the rules for my life forthwith. . .

I declared a 3-day social media fast.
Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp etc can wait but God can’t.
I must rise into God’s presence every morning before speaking with any human being.
His voice is the first that I must hear each day.
No food for me unless I had eaten the food for my spirit- the Word of God.

I pleaded with The Holy Spirit wholeheartedly to help me.

I was assured of His unfailing grace. I felt overwhelmed by God’s unending love.

I quickly asked God if I could eat the last spoon of food I had dropped earlier. I was glad the answer was in the affirmative (I like food). . . I smiled broadly.

I felt the peace I had missed for a long time rush in like a river. . .

The Prince of peace now takes the first place in my life.

I am back on track by God’s grace.

This is my story (though partly fictional)

What’s your own story?

What are you still waiting for friend? Why not retrace your steps today too?

Selah!

© OMOSEBI Mary Omolola (Ph.D)

You just might be interested in watching this video message on how to develop your relationship with God through your quiet time. 

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