93. Where is your phone?

   Ya all ready for some sassiness!? HA! I am going to go ahead and give this a television rating of MA! This is NOT suitable for children!

So when I read this scripture, for just a moment, I was transported back to my prodigal days.  In the midst of that crazy life- I could one thousand percent hear God saying this to me! I thank God! I praise God! For saving me from that wreckage!

    Jeremiah 3:1-5 says, "If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?' says the Lord. 2. 'Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer.  You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness. 3. That's why even the spring rains have failed. For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless. 4. Yet you say to me, 'Father, you have been my guide since my youth. 5. Surely you won't be angry forever! Surely you can forget about it! So you talk, but you keep on doing all the evil you can."

     Huh!? What! We are prostitutes now! Woah! But honestly, how many of you checked to make sure you had your phone when you read the title?  Keep that thought in the back of your mind! 

  Do you remember when we went through the Ten Commandments? In the midst of those Commandments is Exodus 20:4&5 which says, "You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I am the Lord your God."

   Our God is a JEALOUS God!!! Ever had a jealous friend?? They didn't like you spending time with other people! Did they? God's jealousy is just a step deeper. He doesn't want us to prioritize anything above Him! That includes people! Video games! Tic Tok! If you spend more time on any one other thing, then you have made that a priority over God. 

   This is not just about other religions serving other gods and idols. This is one hundred percent about us as well. Every time we sit down in front of the television, and three hours pass by. Not only did we just completely waste three hours of our lives!! Not only is that time very wasted! But during that time, our brains were already working on excuses as to why! The guilt about wasting that much time is just about instantaneous as we get up to move on to something else. Why is that? 

    That my friends is the Holy Spirit convicting us on our poor use of time! He doesn't care about the excuses we have created! He knows us. He sat there and watch the same garbage with us! While we ignored Him telling us to do something more useful! But at the end of the day, we are human. We are going to do it again. We are going to fail again! 

   So why does the Lord use the word prostitute? The whole idea is, what will you do? Or how much will you go through to get to the point where you can get to the sin you enjoy!?! Will you lie? Will you steal? Do you recognize the thing that you would go to such extremes for? Food? (Will you do anything to eat more food than you should?) Television? (Will you sit for hours on end, no matter what happens around you?) Drugs? Did you know that a drug addict literally feels like they are drowning when they need a fix!? IN that moment of desperation, they will literally do anything to "come up out of water"!

    How many of you have near panic attacks when you can't find your phone? Your lifeline is that phone! Your schedule, your contacts, your bills, your job! It's all connected into one convenient little box that comfortably fits into your pants pocket! What is your reaction when it's missing? For many, it is "CALL 911!" Do you care if your kids are crying and needs your attention? Maybe they are bleeding! What if your house was burning down! Would you go back in for your phone? What would you ignore in your life while you search? 

    NOW-- How do you react when you cannot find your Bible? 

    LET THAT SINK IN. 

   How many of you just realized that your phone is an idol in your life?? You may not bow down to that phone... but your adoration for it has become idol worship! It's time to set up healthy boundaries for you and your phone! It's time to put Jesus before your phone! 

    At the end of the day, here is what I know for sure! 

1. You cannot take anything you have here on earth with you to heaven!

2. You will not be going to heaven if you do not set these things down and make God first in your life!

3. Your praise is to God and God alone!

     Exodus 34:12-14 says, "Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. 13. Instead, you must break down their pagan alters, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. 14. You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about His relationship with you."

   God loves you more than anything you can imagine! He wants to be your "Addiction!" He wants you to be hyper focused on Him! So what do you need to set down? What do you need to "detox" from?