Staying Connected

We live in a world where Nomophobia is an increasing problem. It is the fear of being without your phone. This is a verifiable medical condition that can be measured in people’s body. When your phone is dying or you’ve left it behind, your heart rate goes up, your anxiety increases and shortness of breath. However, the anxiety that a person feels and experiences is not really about the phone. It’s about losing connection to what keeps us informed, entertained and reachable by others. It shows that humans panic when we are disconnected from our source. Nomophobia exposes how desperate we cling to connection and to what we consider our source.

In John 15, Jesus was giving His final instructions to the disciples before being crucified. In verses 5-6 He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (NKJV). He was giving this to an agrarian society so they would understand the importance of being connected to Him as their source in terms they could understand. They understood that the moment a branch becomes disconnected from its true source, it, it begins to wither. However, notice the onus is on the branch to stay connected, or to abide, and not on the vine.

In Deuteronomy 30, Moses is giving his final sermon before Israel went into the Promised Land. In verses 19-20 he said, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life.” Moses was worried they would find a new source in the Promised Land other than God. We too are faced with that today. Is the source you’re connected to the right one? You were built for connection to God as your true source. This world offers lots of substitutes. Cling to God. Abide in Him. Stay connected to Him. Don’t settle for substitutes.

Photo by Anastasiia Deineka on Unsplash