How many times a day do you reach for your phone?

Surveys suggest we grab our phones between 144 and 205 times every day.

• In one study, 57%—more than half of all Americans—admitted they were addicted to their phones.

• While 54% of smartphone users report feeling more informed, 54% also report a sense of eye strain from all that screen time.

• 50% concede that checking in with their phones makes them less productive.

• Another 43% admit their phones cause them to struggle to pay attention.

• 30% say their phone use leads to anxiety. And 21% report all that phone time contributes to a sense of depression.

The problem is not just that we check our phones too often—but that we gawk at them too long. In fact, the average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone every day. That's the equivalent of more than 1 day per week or 6 days per month. Across a year, that's approximately 70 days spent looking at a phone.

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/smartphone-usage-stats

Sadly, most of us sneak a peek at our phones while eating with our spouse, playing with our kids, or talking with our friends. And every time we do that, we communicate something we never intended to say: “My phone is more important than you. Any ping, ding, or chime is ahead of you in line.”

I'm as guilty as the next person. If an in-person conversation is running "slow," or I'm wondering if Amazon has finally delivered my package, you might catch me looking at my phone.

How could a hunk of plastic and glass hold such sway? Why can’t we/won’t we give people the thing they need the most: our undivided attention?

Lord, deliver us from being phone-wise and soul-foolish. Because when it takes away from real connection with real people, there’s nothing smart about a smartphone.

 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."     -Matthew 7:12

Americans are starving—not so much for food, but for fame. Driven by fads and fueled by social media, we are desperately trying to “be somebody.”

The Inaugural Success Index study found that 92% of respondents believed fame and fortune come closer to society's definition of success.

In a Pew Research survey, analysts discovered that among 18–25-year-olds, even getting rich is less important than becoming famous.

After surveying a group of 1,032 sixteen-year-olds, a team of UK researchers determined that more than half had no desire to go into professions that didn’t involve being a celebrity.

But believers are different. Way different!

In Christ—and because of Christ—you are already all the somebody anybody could hope to be! If Christ is your Savior, that’s a verifiable fact.

• Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love.”

• 2 Corinthians 1:21,22 declares, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”

• 2 Timothy 1:9 speaks of God “who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”

There's much more! God is actively at work—on your behalf—now! Consider…

• Romans 8:26, "Now, in the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;"

• Psalms 103:3-5, “Who pardons all your guilt, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with favor and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

Are you tracking all this? God says of us who know Christ that He…

• Chose us

• Establishes us

• Anointed us

• Sealed us

• Saved us

• Called us

And if that’s not enough, He...

• Intercedes

• Pardons

• Heals

• Redeems

• Satisfies

• Renews

Bottom line: In Christ, you are all the somebody ANYBODY could hope to be! (Can I get an Amen!). So, stop trying to be a somebody, because God already made you one!

P.S. Shoot me an email, and I'll send you a PDF of the graphic seen below that you can use as a wallet card, bookmark, or fridge favorite. Just say, “I need the reminder!” when you email Jon.gauger@moody.edu.

There’s big. There’s huge. Then there’s ridiculously massive. I refer to the teddy bear Tim bought for his two girls, Ava and Emma.

Once home, the bear was an immediate hit: a friend at play, a guest at dinner, and a comfort at bedtime. It was also too big for their home, and just couldn't stay. But how to break the news to the girls?

Tim took a wise approach and assured the girls that the bear was simply relocating to his office. Better yet, they could stop by to visit whenever they wanted to. With a reluctance recalling the father in the biblical account of the prodigal, Ava and Emma watched that bear slip away from their home.

Months passed, and Tim and his wife moved to a house in the country. The girls soon begged for the bear's return, and after downsizing a few toys as a family, Mom and Dad agreed.

Not long after, Tim strapped the bear into his car's front passenger seat (it's that big) and drove home. Squealing at the sight, the girls whipped off their socks, ran outside onto the cold driveway, and grabbed that bear. They hugged him and kissed him, and brought him inside.

Ava then dressed the bear in her dad's old Brian Urlacher Jersey, a shirt she regards as a treasure. At bedtime, they got the bear a fine pillow and a fine blanket. The prodigal had returned at last (the photo shows what most regard as a smile on his face).  

You probably don’t have a prodigal bear in your life. But maybe there’s a prodigal boy. Or girl. Or grandchild. I’m not suggesting that every one of these stories has a happy ending. Nor would I minimize your agony in the story of a stuffed animal.

But with certainty, we know our Good Shepherd has never lost His fixation on lost sheep. He who declared He came “to seek and to save the lost” is still seeking and saving.

He’s still on the job. So, keep on praying—and keep on believing.

Your prodigal is on God’s heart. Still.

A sliver of trees. Barely enough to be called a forest preserve. But big enough that it stands out from the cement and asphalt landscape you see peering out the windows of your train chugging toward Chicago.

Because God has wired me to worship Him through His creation, I raise a hand and praise Him silently for the trees every time we roll by the splendor of this green scene. God must like it because He seems to jog my attention whenever I'm on the train and about to miss His handiwork.

On a recent ride, I gazed into that familiar forest, lifted my hand in praise—and saw something I didn’t think you would ever see in a copse of trees just a few miles from Chicago. One deer and then another emerged from the gray grime of not-yet-spring. The pair strutted about as if they were in a country field.

My jaw dropped—but I was alone. To my knowledge, I was the only person in the train car who saw that sight. Magic came near, but most missed it.

One passenger was sleeping, while another tried to snooze. One stared ahead sightlessly. Another buried himself in a book. An overwhelming majority were held hostage by their phones. Sadly, magic unfolded—but most missed it, seeing only the mundane.

Here’s the thing. God’s world—and yours—are drenched and dripping with His magnificent magic. It’s everywhere! The only question is, do we see these things and praise God for them? Or are they just part of the scenery we don’t see?

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

-Ecclesiastes 3:11

I do not know whether this is a great or grim day for you. Either way, I invite you to ponder with me three things for which every believer can be thankful:

#1 You have breath to praise.

Not to be a downer, but the day is coming when you and I won't be able to praise because we will have taken our last breath. Psalm 115:17,18 soberly reminds us, "The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. But as for us, we will bless the LORD from this time and forever. Praise the LORD!"

Thankfully, the option to lift your voice, lift your hands, and praise God is entirely ours for now! You have today. You have this moment. Why not give God some praise?

#2 You have clothes to wear.

Etched forever in my mind is a cluster of shabbily dressed kids outside of Kathmandu in Nepal. They were seven or eight years old, squatting in the dirt, playing with not much. Because in their neighborhood, "not much" was the only thing in plentiful supply. I snapped a photo of them as we drove by. Only upon zooming in later did I notice that one kid didn't even have a pair of pants. Sadness turns two shades darker when kids—or grown kids—can't afford clothes. That's not you, is it—no clothes to wear? I didn't think so. Which means you have a great reason to give thanks.

1 Timothy 6:8 offers this perspective: “If we have food and clothing, we should be satisfied with it.”

#3 You have Christ to come.

They say that everyone’s going through something. And those “somethings” are often not fun. But ponder this. Even if every day of every week of every month stinks—for the rest of your life—if you know Jesus, you have a massive reason for joy. Christ is coming! Titus 2:13 says we should be “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Heaven is your home. God is your hope. Jesus is coming!

There you have it—three thankful thoughts. Park your mind here!