“For God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

(1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT)

Too much of a good thing can be harmful.

Exercise is good, but too much can damage the body. More importantly, it might damage relationships with others.

One Krispy Kreme® doughnut wouldn’t harm me, but eating a dozen a day most likely would. Where food is concerned, the watchword is “Everything in moderation”. Eating a little every so often is better than binge eating.

Our day is not much different in the need for moderation than was Paul’s. Idolatry, sporting events, drugs, alcohol, sexually immoral practices, and gluttony were all available. So, Paul took the opportunity to remind first-century believers that their bodies were temples of God’s Spirit, Who had bought them with the death of His Son. The least that they could do was to honour Him with their bodies.

The current greatest “too much of a good thing” temptation is screen time. An entire generation of digital natives is alive and well. Defined, they are the young people who have never known a time when the Internet didn’t exist. Just as doctors once thought that tobacco was good for us — and freely smoked in and out of the presence of their patients — but then discovered that it was dangerous, so the same is now happening with screen time.

Researchers have now unveiled the damage that too much digital interaction, especially gaming, can have on people’s brains. The younger the brain, the higher the addiction rate and the more harmful screen time is to the brain. Staring at and interacting with screens not only builds an addictive wall in our brains but also damages our eyes, leading to dry eye disease.

I use my computer profusely and am certainly not an advocate against using it. Through it, I can spread the gospel with one press of a button or touch of a screen. But like everything else, I can get too much of a good thing. Moderation is necessary lest overload occur.

To avoid that overload, take appropriate breaks from your screens. Don’t give them to young children, for screens are not good babysitters. Use screens wisely. Take them out of the bedroom at night — analog clocks are still available. Enjoy an analog activity — board games are still sold. All who are able can go outside.

What’s one thing that you can do to avoid screen time overload and honour God with your body?

Prayer: Father, help us to enjoy the good things that You’ve created but not to be mastered by anything that steals our attention away from You. Amen.

Copyright © 2022, by Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>, first published on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional presbycan.ca .
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA

Reprinted from PresbyCan with author’s permission