To say that I’m a media junkie would be a bit of an understatement....

I love pretty much anything to do with media—movies, TV, music, computers, you name it; if it involves technology or entertainment, I’m probably interested. My cell phone is rarely turned off, and as soon as my cell phone buzzes, indicating I have a new text message, I have to check it. Though it’s less often now, when I was in college, I would check my e-mail and Facebook page at least twice a day, if not more. I listen to music first thing in the morning while I’m driving to work, when I work out in the gym, and when I’m just hanging out at home. I’m known unofficially as the “movie queen” amongst my friends; I may not be able to remember where I left my car keys, but I can rattle off a list of all the movies in theaters this summer that I want to see, including the main actors and the weekend the films are premiering on. At my job, I spend all day working on a computer, and when I come home, I’m on the computer again, either working on my novel or catching an episode of my favorite TV show on Netflix. I’m guessing about 90 percent of my day is spent around some sort of media...and I can’t really say that’s a fact I’m particularly proud of.

Even though I love media, lately I’ve started to feel almost overwhelmed by it, and I’m not quite comfortable with how much of my life it has taken over. Americans are moving more and more towards a technology-driven society, and though technology has led to many positive advances, I can’t help but feel that it’s taken something away from us as well. Despite Facebook, cell phones, and texting, have we really become more connected? Or does technology just leave us more distracted? And have all the movies, music, and TV in my life filled up so much of my time that I have precious little time left for God?

I’ve been toying with the idea of going on a technology fast, but I keep hesitating, wanting to break the hold it has on me but struggling to make that commitment. Which unfortunately probably tells me just how important it is for me to make that commitment.

Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Although this verse is talking about wealth, I think it can apply to pretty much anything that occupies more of our attention than God does.

Am I trying to say that technology is bad, or that you should smash your TVs and burn all your DVDs? Absolutely not. But I think there does come a point when there’s too much of a good thing, and I think I’ve reached that point. Sometime in the next month or so, my goal is to pick a day and go entirely without media. That means no MP3 player, no TV, no cell phone, no computer time. Will it be hard? Yes—but I think it will be good to take a day to reflect and spend some time at a little slower pace.

If you too are a “media junkie,” I’d encourage you to think about joining me. Just for a day, or maybe even an evening after work.  It might be challenging, but I’m looking forward to what God might reveal to me once I cut out some of the clutter technology causes in my life.