Have you ever sat down to watch one episode of something and suddenly realized three hours have disappeared? You started with a show, then watched another one because it automatically started, then maybe you picked up your phone during the commercials, checked Facebook, watched a couple reels, answered a text, checked the weather, and before you know it you are wondering where the evening went. You didn't plan to waste three hours, you just never really decided what you were going to do with them.

That's one of the strange things about time. We don't usually lose it all at once. We lose it in little pieces. The kids have run rampant, the chores keep stacking, relationships keep drifting, and Satan is trying to keep you distracted.

Five minutes here. Ten minutes there. A few minutes scrolling while you're waiting on something. Another twenty minutes watching something you didn't even intend to watch. You pick up your phone to check one thing and somehow end up watching videos about a guy restoring an old lawn mower. You weren't looking for that. You didn't even know you cared about old lawn mowers. But now you're invested.

And it's not just our phones. The television can eat time. Social media can eat time. Video games can eat time. Even good things can eat time. You can get lost in a book for hours because you're completely absorbed in the story. Reading isn't the problem. The question is whether we are intentionally giving our time to something or simply drifting into whatever happens to capture our attention.

The numbers are worth thinking about. In 2025, Americans aged 15 and older averaged about 2.6 hours a day watching television, compared with just 16 minutes a day reading for personal interest. That's more than 18 hours a week watching TV. The entertainment business has become the discipler (not a word, I know) of our lives.

Here’s the rub: Our attention is not as unlimited as we like to think it is. Research on reading and multitasking consistently shows that when our attention is divided, comprehension suffers and tasks can take longer. One recent meta analysis of 32 studies found that attentional distractions in digital reading environments had a significant negative effect on comprehension. Interestingly, television and music were among the strongest distractions examined. (This is another PSA from Pastor Michael begging you to take the screens from the kids and make them touch grass!)

That makes sense if you've ever tried to read your Bible while the television is playing in the background. You read the same paragraph three times and somehow still don't know what you just read. Your eyes are on the page, but your mind is somewhere else.

The problem isn't that television is evil. The problem isn't that your phone is evil. The problem isn't that all entertainment is evil, but I promise you most is... The problem is that our attention is valuable, and we can give it away without even realizing it.

So, today forward let’s check our personal “screen time.’ Allow the Holy Spirit to convict you if you are caught in a time-wasting pattern. God has called us to be soldiers in His army, not people who have plugged ourselves in to the matrix of screen time! I’ll quote Paul again from a time that didn’t even have TVs or phones!

Today’s Prayer

Holy Father, 

I am sorry If I have been reckless with my time. I need your help to break the habits that are hindering me in this way. I ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit and move in my heart and mind. Help me snap out of any careless time-wasting habits and replace them with spiritual and physically healthy uses of my time. I want to have an impact for Your Kingdom. Help me refocus my time on You and those you’ve blessed me by putting them in my life. 

In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen