Detox of Life!

As many of you may know, the season of lent is approaching, and in light of actually thinking about what would bring me closer to my purpose, and farther from my temptations/distractions, I would like to discuss "Detoxing Our Lives".

On average, we could say that most young people spend 15-18 hours awake each day.  Now, of those 15-18 hours, how many are spent literally wasting time??  With today's iPad's, iPhones, iPods, portable gaming devices, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Twitter, etc., even time that is meant to be reserved for school, is wasted.  All of these distractions are temptations of our time, and our character.  Do we tell mom we're studying late, so we can stay up and catch up on the Pretty Little Liars series?  Do we cheat ourselves, and God, by not fully applying every ounce of our attention to our school work, during class time?  Are our minds constantly wandering to the cyber world, because we feel it's so much safer, than the real world?  Who/what are we truly worshiping?  One heavenly God, or thousands of mind warping, materialistic gods?

What recently brought this problem to my attention, was actually.... me.  That's right!  My life has really been screwed up by 'distractions'.  For me it's: friends (who aren't the best influence in my walk with God), Facebook, Netflix, movies/dvds, junk food, and bad music.  When my life really starting going south, and I began to feel spiritually, emotionally, and physically weak, I began to wonder, "What am I really doing with the life/time God has given me?"  For many years, I thought I was living an 'okay' life. I had friends, fun, and lots of down time.  It wasn't until I was able to start truly feeling the effect of these  on my life, that I freaked out!  I was killing myself, and throwing away everything God had given me, all because I was following the lead of the media, and my friends, being apathetic towards life, and just flat out lazy!  Relationships with my family deteriorated, and I started to see the world from a sad, self-worshiping, point of view.  It was literally DEPRESSING!

As the lent season of 2012 began to roll around, I started thinking to myself, "If this season is meant for recognizing the sacrifice Jesus made for us, by sacrificing His life, shouldn't I give up these things that have become my life, and my distraction/disgrace toward Him?"  I began to think of all the things I might ACTUALLY GET DONE, with these negative distractions gone... Test taking back to a regular schedule, my driver's license, weight loss, family time, quiet time with/for God, faith strengthening, and maybe even become fluent in Spanish!  Ha, ha!  All those things, versus what I had allowed myself to become!?

After considering all I could get done, I thought of all I would be giving up... that was my comfort zone, my life, my routine... how scary would it be to walk into the darkness of change, and not know what was beyond each step?  All the cravings to return to familiar shores, all the temptations, all the torment.... was it worth it?  When I take a step back, and see who/what I've allowed myself to become, I say, "yes!  It is worth every moment!  It certainly won't be easy, and there may be days where I fail epically, but I know that God will see my repentance, my hope, and my effort to be a better person for Him, and He will lift me up, and give me the strength to finish the 'race marked out'."

If you're out there tonight, looking at your life, and wondering where it first started to slip, know that it's never too late.  Until your final breath, you have the opportunity to change who you choose to be, and to strive to live differently.  It won't be easy, and the devil will pursue you, but you will cry out, "Get behind me, Satan, for my hope rests in the Lord, God, Almighty, and you shall have no power over me, for God is on my side, and He alone remains forever in control!"  So dig deep in your hearts, find what's hurting you today, and 'cut it out' of your life for good.  I know that we can do this, but our strength must be in the Lord, our wonderful Father in Heaven, who will catch us when we fall, and cheer as we start to reach the finish line!!

God bless you, and your searching!

~ Clay