SOAR Teen & Young Adult Christian Magazine

“A little web surfing, a little Facebook, a little folding of the hands around your smart phone and spiritual poverty will come like a robber…”

Where do you need self-control? Does living in a wired world distract you from pursuing God and serving him? In this clip Josh Harris of Covenant Life Church describes an all-too-familiar moment of e-mail, blog, Facebook, Twitter distraction. This message is part of his Proverbs series, and is based on Proverbs 25:28.

The sluggard lacks the self-control to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. This sermon helps us identify the things that keep us busy but are really wasting time that should be spent on more important priorities.

Click here to listen to the whole audio message.

Pastor Harris also wrote some thinking points about the sermon on his blog:

Yesterday I preached a sermon about self-control from Proverbs 25:28 that says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” I focused on the issue of media, the internet, and today’s new technologies. I don’t think I’m the only person who would identify this as an area where it’s easy to lack self-control. I think a lot of us we could rephrase the words of Proverbs 24:33-34 about the sluggard and say, “A little web surfing, a little Facebook, a little folding of the hands around the smart phone and spiritual poverty will come upon you like a robber.”

Pastor Don Devries wrote up some application questions based on the sermon that I think are good:
1. What things are you tempted to do instead of what you should be doing? What do you fill your time with that crowds out activity of eternal value?

2. Have you feasted so much at the table of the world that your hunger for the Lord (Matthew 5:6) has diminished and your first love (Revelation 2:4) has grown cold? What can you do to rekindle that love and hunger?

3. What allowable and permissible pursuits have you allowed to rob you of your service to God’s church and His kingdom? What would change look like?

4. What things have crowded your life that keep you from fruitfulness (like time in God’s word, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, etc.)? What steps of repentance do you need to take to begin the process of change?

5. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15-16a “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time…” How can you cultivate wisdom in your use of time? How can you put the eternal pursuits above the trivial?

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