Time on my Hands

Leviticus 23:26-27 (NIV)
The LORD said to Moses,  "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire.

For some time now, I have been convicted about my screen time. I know that seems odd for someone my age (70) to say, but it is true. My escape, my companion, my void fillers, all take the form of some sort of 'screen time'.

I love movies, television, Netflix, reading books on my phone, or tablet, or kindle. I seldom go anywhere or do anything, without an audio book playing at my side. That includes walking my dog, doing house work, chopping vegetables, driving short or long distances. 

I claim to be an introvert, but it would seem that I don't like to have any down-time or silence. How can that be good? I said at the start of this message, how I have been convicted about my screen time. So the question is, what am I going to do about it?

I think, for starters, I will begin by following the words of the scripture above.  "Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves."  I believe the key here for me is 'deny yourself', something I seldom do. I want to be more aware of the time I am wasting staring at my phone, TV, tablet, etc.

I love my morning quiet and wouldn't dream of inviting any of my devices into that special time. Perhaps it is as easy as that. Be more aware and just maybe have that same type of quiet time in the evening (a sacred assembly?). What do you think? Is a fast (deny myself) from habitual busyness like this in your future? I wonder how God will use this new-found time.

Leviticus 23:26-32