Devo time

Ronnie and I are going through several things together as a couple during our newly disciplined time together with God in the mornings. We have actually been steady at doing this for over 3 weeks now! Since I have had to walk so much with the campaign, our physical training has faltered in the mornings some, but I am proud to say that our spiritual training has continued every morning! I am learning to LOVE those times with my Savior and my husband together - (if you knew me in the mornings, you would realize what a HUGE deal this is! I am NOT usually a nice person prior to two cups of coffee and a couple hours of quiet morning time.)

Anyway, we are currently doing a devo book called "Pierced by the Word" by John Piper. Today's topic had to do with how much time we as an American culture waste via TV. He talked about how many times even if the name of the Lord is used - or if God is referenced in anyway, He is trivialized, and laughed at. He also referred to how much time is lost from doing things that we SHOULD or even COULD be doing. As I read this (in the mornings Ronnie reads the Scripture for hte day aloud and then I read from this book.) I was thinking of even last night. I got SO much stuff done when I got home from work. Ronnie was a bit late, so I went running, then got dinner ready before he got home. After dinner, we talked a while, I did two loads of laundry, he did dishes, I prepared my Bible study for Wednesday night, and the whole time we were having so much fun together. At 8:00ish, I turned on the TV. At that point, our conversation stopped, he got on the internet to find a remedy for our broken 55 inch TV - I didn't go get the last load of laundry out of the dryer, I didn't put away the clothes that I had earlier folded so diligently, and an hour later, after no more talking, we went to bed.

This morning - you can imagine the conviction. Even his time on the internet was spent trying to fix the one thing that stopped our time together, as well as trivialized EVERYTHING. I will not go into which sitcoms we watched, because that isn't important. They were "funny." The point is, that if the same conversation were happening in our home, we would not have approved. The jokes were crass, the family in one show is a humorus look at a divorced couple, the story in the other had to do with three men - one married, the other two simply dating - - but their conversation was almost 100% about things that should be sacred to a married couple. What were we thinking? I was the one that chose the channel... I cannot, and will not try to place blame here. Would I really have been comfortable with those conversations in real life? My answer is no. Why not? Because I have a Savior that died for my sins, and the sins of many - and to laugh at sin trivializes the death of my Lord. When TV and the American culture makes fun of things that should pierce my heart with saddness and pain for the state of our world around us - I should NOT laugh. I should be overcome with mercy, and compassion - and yet I should also be outraged at the way they take Jesus' sacrifice so lightly.

This scene echoed in my mind this morning. "So," Ronnie asked "Are we really going to try to fix that TV? Do you think if we fixed it that would help us get a little more money for it when we sell it?"

I am not saying that we are about to get rid of all TV and trivial entertainment in our home. Although there is a part of me that is afraid we should..... I am saying, that the next time Ronnie and I have time together, I will think twice before turning on the junk box and watching things that make light of the death of Christ. I also believe I will be evaluating my DVD collection soon as well. I am QUITE sure that there are some movies that need to go.

Anyway, that is my lesson for the day - I have to get back to work now.