What is holding you back?

This week I de-activated my Facebook account. 

Why? 

Because I felt like I needed a break from it. Not so much because it is a bad thing. No, there are many benefits to being on Facebook. Many opportunities to connect with others in a way that your wouldn't have otherwise.

The reason I shut mine off is that it was becoming a distraction. A distraction interrupting my time with God, and a distraction from me working on other areas that I feel God had called me to.

You see, I live a busy life. My wife and I run a successful cleaning company in our city. It requires a substantial amount of my time and energy. When I finish a day of cleaning, I then have to sit in front of a computer fulfilling the administration part of my role. And it was during these times when I should have been focused on the business aspect of my life, I found times when I would get lost browsing Facebook. Procrastinating by checking out what other people had been up to when I should have been focused on the task in front of me.

This distraction has a cost. Because the time I waste on the computer then takes away from my time in the word and prayer. From my time writing and journaling. From time connecting with my wife, and getting to bed early.

When something takes you further away from your purpose, it is not a healthy thing.

The bible is clear on having a focus and pursuing it. The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to:

Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us... 

Hebrews 12:1

Facebook, as good as a purpose it can have, was a hinderance to my forward progress. It was distracting and taking my eyes off the race I am called to run. So it had to go.

I like the verse above because it gives us a lens through which we can look when deciding if something is right for us or not. Is this thing/activity/person hindering the purpose that God has for me, or is it helping fulfil the purpose God has for me?

I pray that this week you will take some time to consider this question as you reflect on the things in your life that take up your time and attention.