It’s a rare thing these days
to meet someone who isn’t familiar with Facebook, the social media platform. This
online world has exploded into our physical experience to the point where even
it’s terminology has become common place.
For example, almost every
one know what it means to friend
someone, or to invite them to be your friend through your Facebook profile. And
we’re familiar with the not so nice opposite of that, unfriending.
Facebook has also influenced
the way we relate economically. In the majority of advertising, and on every
business website, you’ll see the invitation to LIKE us. When we like something
on Facebook, all our friends see the notification. Liking someone or something has become an easy way of showing
visible support. It doesn’t require any kind of commitment or interaction. It’s
just a bit of information that lets people know more about us and who we are.
It’s almost as if our entire
world is now filtered through the Facebook experience.
And if you’ll let me go a
little further down this uncomfortable road, many of us relate to God that way
in our spiritual world.
He’s one of the many things
we LIKE. We’re happy to have it known on our timeline that we stand up as one
of the many who endorse Him. For many, consciously or unconsciously, it’s a way
of filling out the picture of who we are.
Unfortunately that’s where
we’re tempted to draw the line.
It’s easy to LIKE God, but
much harder to follow Him.
It’s easy to FRIEND God, but
requires much more of a commitment to spend actual time with Him.
Today I encourage you to
join me, as I recommit to making Him the platform on which I stand.
Wow. Powerful message this Lord's Day morning. Thank you for the reminder that following Him requires real commitment, not a simple push of a button.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head. Staying committed is sometimes hard and does require us to stay focused. Life so often gets in the way of living "for"
ReplyDeleteGod. Especially when it does not agree with our "like's"
Reminds me of Kyle Idleman's book Not A Fan. As you said, it's easy to LIKE God, but much harder to follow Him.
ReplyDeleteLove this piece Edie! My experience has been that if I am going to obey Jesus' command to "follow Me" then the follow up that I need to initiate is an obedience to pursue closely and tenaciously His leading in my life and not mine.
ReplyDeleteExcellent thoughts Edie! If we are serious about Jesus' command to "follow me" then that would mean that my follow up to that command would be a commitment to pursue closely and tenaciously Jesus' leading, not my own.
ReplyDeleteI like the comparison, Edie. Good parallels to help me evaluate where I stand with God.
ReplyDelete