Default Mode

When you hear the word "fasting", what typically comes to mind? I think that most of us think of doing without food for a certain period of time. But have you ever considered fasting from television?

I will admit that I have gotten into the habit of putting the girls to bed and then turning on the television for the next 2-3 hours just to fill up time before I go to bed. There usually isn't much on worth watching, but somehow TV has become my default mode.

So this past week my family and I have fasted from television. This means that in the last week we have not watched any TV, DVDs, or played video games on the TV. "What did you do with your time?" you might ask. Well we played games together, built puzzles, and read books. Simply put we spent time together as a family. After the girls went to bed (around 7pm each night) my wife and I had some quiet time to talk, read books, and even read the Bible together.

I wasn't sure how my daughters were going to react to this change, but surprisingly enough they never even asked to watch TV and they always ask to watch TV. They found that they could fill their time with other things and they were quite content with family time. 

I must admit that there were a couple times when I said to myself, "Oh no, I'm missing _______" (fill in the blank with your favorite program). But found much more enjoyment in spending time with my girls and my wife.

This has got me thinking, what do we fill our time and minds with? Are the things we do done with a purpose or are they just something to do? I was reminded of a verse today. Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Not that everything on TV is bad for you, but there is more to life than TV.

You may be asking how long this TV fast will last. Well we do plan to start watching TV again this weekend, but it is no longer my default mode!

What are you filling your mind with? Has TV become your default mode? Put down the remote and spend time with your family, with God, or even just enjoying the quiet...or better yet, all three!