Written by Katie Pezzutto
A couple of years ago, a study by the University of California-San Diego explored the topic of media consumption. Their research led to an eye-opening statistic. Each day, most regular consumers of social media are inundated with the equivalent of 63 gigabytes of information. That’s about 12 DVDs or 9 hours streaming Ultra HD video – enough to overload a laptop in about two weeks. Holy Moses.
With so much information lodged in our brains, it’s easy to read something and move on before processing the information’s significance and relatability to our lives. That’s why we’ve created this devotional for you, our readers.
We want to help direct your thoughts towards connecting with Christ and give you space to process the information you’re digesting in these pages. Above all, we hope and pray you’ll find yourself enveloped in Christ’s mind, passion, and plans for your life.
This devotional was created with the sole purpose of guiding you in your relationship with your thoughts and your Creator.
We want to help dispel the guilt and fear that come from having an “inadequate” communion with God.
So many of us have mixed emotions when it comes to interacting with God. Some of us have plans and calculations to get us into the holy zone. Those of us desperately aching to get through a Bible plan crack open Leviticus for the zillionth time that month, fall asleep after verse 16 and leave unsightly drool pools on the pages.
Others of us “accidently” miss the alarm or would rather dive into work than spend time straightening out our theological misconceptions. Or, we find Netflix a little more enticing after a long day at work (this, without a doubt, is me). After neglecting to connect with God that day, we solemnly but willingly embrace the guilt that comes from being a prone-to-wanderish human.
Have you been there?
For the sake of your emotional and spiritual growth, no pat answers are welcome in this space. Be truthful. Please, throw perfection and obligation out the window, take your time with each question, and write what you need to.
Questions to ponder
- How do you feel when you think about interacting with God? Joyful, guilty, annoyed by the suggestion? Perhaps other emotions come up? What do you think triggers these emotions?
- So many of us think we have to get our thoughts, emotions, and words right before we pray. But that’s not productive or helpful. Take some time to let God know what’s up. What are you genuinely thinking about? What’s really not okay in your life right now?
- Do you carry and entertain misbeliefs about yourself? For example: I don’t have anything to contribute to my conversation with God…et cetera.
- Ponder the two Scripture passages below. Have these verses played out truthfully in your life? Name an instance God showed you He cares about you. Reflect on it. Choose to accept the truth that situation conveys about how God feels about you.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” —Matthew 6:25-26
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” — Matthew 7:9-11