Down Gilead Lane, Season 12 | Episode 4

VIRTUAL UNREALITY

Season Description

Since we first heard from the Morrison family on a quiet road in a small town, we’ve come a long way. Kids have grown up, graduated, and moved away from home. New members have joined the family. This season , find out who’s behind Peace of Heaven, how Monica Richter can get herself out of the mess she’s in, and what significant life choices are made. Find out what happens when the pieces of the puzzle ultimately fall into place in Coleraine.

Today’s Story

Knowing how much time is too much when it comes to online gaming can be hard, and Timothy Morrison knows it. It’s a lesson about keeping God the center of our lives.

How About You?
Have you ever felt like you were addicted to online gaming or social networks?

Check This Out…
God has given us so many good things in this world: Food, games, the Internet, the list could go on forever. But any good things that we have in this world can suddenly turn sour if done in excess.

Tim Morrison had to learn that when it came to the Internet in today’s episode. He found something good (the games he could play and the social networks that let him chat) but he let them become ugly in his life. When Tim let the games and networking take over, he lost sleep and tied up the computer and telephone.

Those virtual things in themselves are not bad; it was when they got to be the focus of Tim’s life that things got worse. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says ’Everything is permissible’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is constructive.

Everything is permissable means that we can physically do just about anything we want to in this world with our freedom in God. The verse concludes, however, that not everything is beneficial/constructive. This means that not everything we choose to do is good for us.

So Tim could choose to play online games and chat on social networks all day and all night, but according to the Word, it might not be very good for him. Furthermore, if Tim chooses to make the Internet a higher priority than God, which is idolotry, there will most likely be consequences for that sin. God says that he wants to be the focus of our lives. Deuteronomy 6:5 notes this when it says Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. God wants to be the center. We can go on the Internet, and do fun things, but we need to remember that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) and wants to have all of our hearts—not just what’s leftover from gaming the night before.