The Five-Minute Trade Off of Time

Choosing a Different Rabbit Trail–Social Media Vs. Biblical Study

A minute here, a swipe there. All so innocent, right? Or maybe not. Most days a person that engages in social media spends an average of 147 minutes per day viewing different social media platforms. Yes…you are spot on with your math…. that is 2 hours and 27 minutes!!

This is something I struggle with at times. I justify taking a look for work…LOL! Yes….I say what if I have a new message from a potential client? What if I have new likes or comments that need a response? I am continually told in my industry that response time is the key to be successful. Ugh…what to do?

It is so easy to pick up your phone and “just take a peek” at FaceBook. It is so easy to only take a sec to look for “a new DIY project”. Or what was “the latest and greatest” TikTok video you heard about? It is so easy to start and then be sucked down this endless rabbit trail that leads you to the next item you see. That is why we rarely ever just “take a peek”.

However, what if we took those five minutes and took a peek at our Bible and read a verse or two? What if that reading led us to spending147 minutes studying our Bible each day and going down an endless rabbit trail of learning God’s word? It appears that most of us all have that kind of time to study God’s word daily. Think of how that would change our walk with God?

We would meet so many milestones that we set each year. We would be able to read through our Bible each year successfully. We would be able to complete more than one Bible Study. We would have a better understanding of the lineage of Biblical families. We would have the verses needed to witness and share with others. We would always have the words for a struggling friend.

Our personal struggles would be smaller. Our strength and faith would be greater. Our dreams would be different. That five-minute trade off of spending it on social media verses our Bible has such a different outcome.

There are many verses throughout the Bible that talk about how we should mediate on God’s word day and night. In Joshua 1:8 we read “This Book of Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

I stated earlier that response time is key to industry. Maybe I need to retrain what my response time to what is. In Revelations 1:3 it states, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” The Bible clearly states the time is near for God to return. Do I want to spend my 2 hours and 27 minutes a day looking at what is often times the “false” life of people, made up bloopers and unrealistic lifestyles or do I want to spend my time meditating on God’s word to know how I should be living my life for him and how my actions will get me to heaven?

Kind of seems like a no brainer when you look at it that way. Whether you spend two minutes or over 100 minutes a day on social media, I don’t believe it is how God wants us to spend our days. I hope to remind myself every time I pick up phone what those five minutes can lead to and where I should spend those five minutes. I aim to change my trail and encourage all of you to do the same.

Contributed by Jessica Clemens

Sources: www.statistica.com; www.broadbandsearch.net