Connected?

It was about 5:30pm on a Wednesday afternoon and I had just left the office. My cell phone rang and it was my wife, "Can you stop at the grocery store and pick up some shredded cheddar cheese for this recipe?”  Well on my way home, I was close enough to change my route and swing by the store.  As I walked into our home, my wife rhetorically asked with a chuckle, "What did we do before cell phones?"   Without missing a beat my 10 year old daughter, who really wanted to secretly justify her need for her own cell phone asked, “Daddy, how old were you when you got your first cell phone?”   “I believe I was about 27 years old and it was as big as one of the stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai!”   “That stone table, Daddy, was that before the Ipad?”

With laptops, Ipads, cell phones, Iphones and every other gadget on the planet; you and I are more connected than ever.  In fact, I wonder if we ever disconnect.   The answer is probably not!  In July 2013, the Huffington Post reported that 61% of employed Americans work while vacationing…that’s 6 out of 10 people. 

Truth be told, we are more likely to disconnect from our families and from God, before we disconnect from our jobs.   Harsh sounding?  Perhaps! But let’s be honest.  I see it nearly every day.  Kids in trouble because mom and dad are always on their cell phones taking another call, on their laptops pounding out one more report or never at home because there is just one more meeting to attend, rather than connecting with the kids.  The marriage takes a hit too.  We will talk to our bosses before our spouses. 

And what about God, have we disconnected from Him?   How many times has a headache on Sunday kept you from church, but the same headache did not keep you from work on Monday?  How many times have you come up with some lame excuse to stay home instead of connecting with the body of Christ and worshipping in one heart and spirit?   How many times have you forsaken the assembly (see Hebrews 10:25)? 

Is that you?  Are you more connected to the job or the activities of the world than you are to God or your family?  Are you proud that you work through the weekends and vacation to clear a better bottom line?  If so, then you need to refocus on God.  To start, confess your lack of connectivity with Him.  Tell him you are sorry and ask Him to empower you to make better choices to stay connected with Him.  Then go to your family and do the same thing.  

Once you have taken that step…learn how to turn off the devices and disconnect so then you can reconnect with the most important thing.