Scripture:
Ephesians 5:18 - “The world is designed to be consumed by us. It is catered to us to desire all the time, and for that reason, we so often over consume. We get filled up on things that are temporary. We are temporarily happy, but sadness soon follows. We are temporarily satisfied, but then emptiness soon follows. It’s all because the world can’t offer anything on true sustenance for us.”
Context:
This text talks about it in regards to alcohol consumption, which is definitely a popular, over-consumed product today as well. The truth is, there’s a vast network of things like that though. We all have the one that calls to us more than another, so which is it for you?
Personal Story:
For me, it looks like content as a whole. Movies, TV, sports, games, etc. I will consume these things as much as possible. Why do I? I’m not quite sure sometimes. My best guess is it’s either out of boredom or a desire to distract myself from thinking about other things. I challenge you to ask this question for yourself too.
Due to my obsession with content, I have felt the “leads to reckless living” part of verse 18 way more than I care to admit. I’ve been plenty reckless with my money due to it. I’ve sure been careless with what words and images I’ve consumed. I’ve made some incredible wastes of time over the past couple years due to this compulsion to be filled by all sorts of other content that is available. I’ve begun to make changes the more I’ve recognized my faults in this area. Simple steps like getting rid of social media have helped a lot, but I know I have more steps to go. I find myself coming back to this question time and time again, what would my life look like if I pursued only being filled by things for my spiritual well-being? This may not be a truly attainable goal or especially necessary, as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up.” BUT what would life look like if I pursued that? If I pursued with all that I had to be “filled by the Spirit” as verse 18 says. In the physical sense of this devotional, how would it look to only let my eyes see Holy things, my ears to hear only things meant for building up and edifying, or my mouth to only consume what builds up the temple of my body?
-Zach Collins
Application:
Here’s some things to meditate on today:
What are the things I tend to overconsume, and why do I lean into them?
What limits should I set in order to protect myself from the dangers of what that overconsumption can do?
How can I be a greater consumer of things that are of a benefit to my spiritual health?
What is a measurable challenge I can live in to see what growth I experience as I consume more of the things above?