Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. —Proverbs 8:34
Thanks to my work as a journalist, I’ve logged hundreds of miles on America’s roads in recent months. I’ve driven across century-old wooden covered bridges in Vermont, gazed at white-laced mountains in Colorado, and skirted fields abundant with amber waves of grain in Iowa. Months after I visited Cape Cod in Massachusetts, I’m still finding grains of sand in my car.
One of my favorite parts of the landscape is the church sign. Some stick to the basics; I’ve seen lots that say, “God Loves You!” Many cite Scripture; John 3:16 is popular everywhere. The best ones are both witty and provocative. When I drove past Victory Rock Church in Warsaw, Indiana, theirs read: “Your Sanctuary? The Local Church or the Town Bar?”
The most memorable I’ve seen was at Greenwood Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia, which decided to tackle a modern addiction: social media. The sign declared, “Get Off of Facebook and into My Book.”
Now, I have something of a Facebook habit. The website has quickly become a modern-day meeting place where I can reconnect with people from various stages of my life. In many ways, it’s a terrific thing—a twenty-first-century way of cultivating community.
But am I investing a commensurate amount of time in my relationship with God? I can spend hours looking at photos from someone else’s family reunion or Facebook messages, but how much time am I spending with a more time-honored message—the one God gives through Scripture? Yes, the sign is a vital reminder for an online junkie like me: I ought to log in where it really matters.
God, I know You’re there, waiting to hear from me. Help me to think of You—not updating my Facebook status—first.
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