Pages of Joy // John Greco

Read Nehemiah 6:1–15.

You can feel it in the air. There’s something about our society today that’s leaving people anxious, depressed, and hopeless. While there are many contributing factors to this widespread malaise many of us feel, there can be little doubt our smartphones are responsible for much of it. In each of our pockets is a little electronic gizmo that connects us to the stories, posts, and pictures of millions of people.

Our culture is now inextricably tied up in clicks and likes and shares. Forget keeping up with the Joneses next door. Now, there’s pressure to keep up with the Joneses, the Smiths, and a thousand other families who all seem like they’re living the good life. Then there’s the arguing. Do you remember when it was considered rude to discuss politics in mixed company? Not anymore. Today, we just swipe open our phones to be barraged with opinions and character assassinations from the right and the left.

Social media is changing us faster than we realize—and not for the better. On top of that, it’s distracting us from the business of the kingdom. You see, Jesus wasn’t kidding when He told us to tell the world about Him. He also wasn’t joking when He said we were to love God with our whole being and love our neighbors as ourselves. But we can’t do any of that if we’re scrolling online all day.

I’m not saying we need to go full Luddite, but I do believe God may be calling us to turn off our phones more often than we do now. Think about Nehemiah for a moment. God gave him the task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. He faced opposition constantly. But he didn’t let it distract him. He knew had a single task to do—and he made that God-given job his priority: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3). Perhaps it’s time we had the same mindset.

---

My newest book, Rediscovering Christmas, is now available! If you enjoy my writing and/or you love Christmas, it might just be the thing for you. If you do decide to check it out, please leave a review on Amazon. You have no idea how much that helps!