Technology can help our lives run smoother and make our days just that much easier. But sometimes, it can make our lives just that much more cluttered. Here are some great tips to help you focus your Sabbath day on what matters most.
Your phone buzzes. Almost without even thinking about it, you check it. One new message. You open it, read it, and quickly text a reply. It’s almost a reflex.
You look up and remember where you are: church. It’s not like you actually forgot you were at church. You just checked out for a few seconds. But it does take you a minute to focus on what’s going on around you. And you are still thinking about that message …
Has this ever happened to you?
Technology can be so distracting! Do you ever feel like your phone controls part of you? Your phone buzzes and seems to say, “Look at me,” and you do. Sometimes you check your phone when it doesn’t even buzz. (You totally want to check your phone right now, don’t you?)
So is technology a bad thing? It can certainly distract us from what matters most. It can also bring a lot of garbage into our lives. But the thing is, technology is also a huge blessing and brings so much goodness. Even on Sundays! Even at church! The Sabbath is the Lord’s day. We should be focused on Him and His gospel, not on entertaining ourselves. But if we can ignore and avoid all of the distractions (no, you don’t have to check that notification), then technology can really enhance our Sabbath observance. How? Here are 20 suggestions.
1. Put your phone on airplane mode during Church meetings. Then you can use your digital scriptures and Come, Follow Me outlines without any incoming distractions. Don’t worry. Your messages will all be waiting after church. And three hours really isn’t that long if you think about it.
2. Set a goal to share one thing you learned from church in a personal text or on social media. It can be a thought you had or a quote or scripture you liked from a lesson.
3. Mark and take notes on digital scriptures in the Gospel Library app, which also lets you put scriptures and quotes into personalized categories by creating tags.