Is the Time You Spend on Facebook a Waste of Time?

Facebook. That website that was so cool a few years ago and now everyone is on it. The place where you go and spend a lot of your time online. The main website for millions of people who are online.

The app you keep checking when a new notification shows up on your phone. The place where you post how bored you are, what you ate, where you went, etc. The place where there’s lots of pictures, lots of videos, lots of friends, etc. Have you ever wondered,

Is Facebook Really a Big Waste of Time? For me, is Facebook a waste of time?

What is Facebook?

Everyone knows what Facebook is. It is a website where you go and put a profile picture, you edit your school and information, you add pictures, you post statuses, you poke others, you connect with friends, etc.

It is the place where you meet with old friends (or old enemies), where you have no idea what’s going on but there’s lots of stuff happening. The where there are a lot of pages to like, lots of groups to join, lots of games to play, and apparently a lot is going on. It’s the place the seemingly “connects you with the whole world”. It’s the place where you can create a virtual profile of your best self, posting only the best pictures and things about yourself, where you can be virtually perfect.

A place where boys stalk girls and vice-versa. A place where parents go to check up on their children and family. A place that makes you envious and desirous to have another’s life and situation. A networking website, with all it entails. Eye opening yet so limiting. A walled garden (google or any website or person can’t see your profile unless you allow them to). The place with very complicated privacy settings. The place that continually changes and exposes more of your information even without your permission. A place where the whole world meets together. A very evil place.

How Much Time are You on Facebook?

For most of us facebook is THE INTERNET. The place where you go to see what your friends are doing. The place where others post all the cool videos (like this kid who is amazing in basketball shooting) and pictures. The place where you chat with your friends or stalk people you would like to talk to. The place where you can play games, where you’re bombarded with invitations to play this or that game, where you can poke others, like pictures and statuses, comment about stuff, etc.

It’s the website where we spend a lot of our internet time and yet accomplish nothing. We sometimes spend hours checking out this and that, and we have no idea how time went by. If you were to check with yourself or even time yourself, how much time do you spend on Facebook daily?

Do You Waste Your Time by Being on Facebook?

I’m not gonna ask you WHAT are you doing on facebook, but I can ask you one question – which I am also asking myself: Do you waste your time by being on Facebook? Is my being on facebook, checking this and that, a waste of time? I have to admit that for the past 3-4 years much of my time has been wasted on Facebook. Too much time. And not only me: I look around and I see so many people just wasting time doing nothing but “being on facebook”.

I got to the point that I took it to the Lord personally and I consecrated my time on Facebook to Him. Yes, I do have >3500 friends on Facebook, but do I waste my time and their time by being friends on Facebook? What do I do on Facebook? How can I redeem the time by being on Facebook?

Redeeming the Time While Using Facebook

We all need to bring the matter of being on Facebook to the Lord.

Lord, how can I redeem the time while being on Facebook? It is necessary to be there from time to time, but how can I redeem this time? How can I go against my natural disposition and tendency to just skim through things, check out stuff, and let time go by without gaining You…?

You may even take the decision to NOT be on Facebook for a few weeks – you will see, you won’t miss much stuff, but you may rather LIVE more in reality (than in a virtual bubble called Facebook). Here are some ways that I discovered I can not only NOT waste time on Facebook but USURP Facebook by using this evil and time-wasting website for the Lord:

• PRAY about your time on Facebook. First of all, Pray. Don’t DO something. Pray, Lord, what am I doing here? What do You want me to do here? Lord, is this a waste of my time and Your time? Lord, I want to gain You more in this time. Lord Jesus, my friends. I want them to know You! – mention your friends to the Lord! When you see something, pray about it. When a picture or a video or a status shows up in your feed, pray for that person. Mingle your being on facebook with prayer.
• Daily post something that you enjoy in the Bible. It takes courage to stand for the Lord on Facebook. Others may label you, talk about you, criticize you, etc. But we need to force ourselves to testify to our friends, relatives, and acquaintances:  I love the Lord, I love His Word, I am a Christian, and I am a God-man! Share a verse. A song. A portion in the footnotes. Something that touched you. Share your enjoyment of Christ. Be real on Facebook: testify of your real enjoyment!
• Like the right kind of pages + share their status updates. Have you ever heard of, The Mystery of the Human life? Also: Lord Jesus I love You – I really Love You! And, AgeTurners. Living To Him. Bibles for America. Free Christian Literature. Truth and Experience. Each One Has. Christians on Campus. Here’s a link for some of the Christians on Campus facebook pages. How about, Christian Blogs. Agodman.com. Pray-reading the Word. Conferences – Mingling is the Way. There are SO MANY OF THEM! Like them, comment, share their statuses.
• USE Facebook to Usurp Facebook. Facebook is a networking website – when you “like” a status / photo / link, your friends will see it. You don’t even need to talk about it – just preach the gospel to your friends by liking the right stuff. Like the saints’ statuses, pictures of saints and families, young people’s meetings, etc. Comment on the right kind of things. Avoid certain people, mute others, unsubscribe from some who don’t help you be in your spirit while being on Facebook.
• Use the Groups! Get together with companions in a group on Facebook and pray together. Encourage one another. Ask them to pray for you. Bible reading schedules. Ministry readings and stuff. Use lettheword.com and excellentbeliever.com. Get yourself surrounded by seeking companions and pursue the Lord together.
• Choose Your Friends Carefully. This is so true on Facebook – don’t “hang out” by listening and checking out the friends that don’t pursue the Lord. This doesn’t mean you should “live in a Christian bubble”, but rather pray for your friends. Don’t like / comment on some things that the Lord within doesn’t want you to – pray for your friends. Even unsubscribe or unfriend some friends who are so bold to be atheistic or against God / moral things. Pray about this. Do this with the Lord as He leads you within.
• Affiliate Yourself with the Saints. Don’t shy away from your fellow companions. Put pictures with the saints; seek to have MORE pictures with the saints than with your classmates. Our real social life is the church life, and we love being with those who eat, drink, and breathe in Jesus. Be joined to them. Testify of your enjoyment. Your worldly friends are carefully checking you out – if you stand with the saints, they will respect you and even desire to join you. I was surprised how some of my worldly friends know the names of the saints – because I post pictures with the saints!
• LIKE and share good articles on Facebook. Yes, related to health. Sometimes even something funny. But most of all, like and share articles from the saints’ blogs and websites. I made a collection of the saints’ websites via agodman.com. Share your enjoyment and use the “like” button on their website to LIKE and SHARE the saints’ enjoyment!
• Don’t be “over the top” for God. Be absolute for Him inwardly, but when you post and express yourself on Facebook, don’t be too much. Learn to be human. Do all things together with the Lord. Don’t be the preacher, the teacher, but a normal Christian. It’s good to ask questions related to your human life. It’s good to chat with your friends, visit their profile, like statuses and pictures, and interact. But do all things with the Lord. Seek to be one with Him in all your being on Facebook.
• LIMIT Your time on Facebook. Facebook is definitely part of the trend of the age, the flow of dissolution, the evil river flowing into the lake of fire, and the youthful lusts. Limit yourself, even time your being on facebook. In this matter don’t even consult the Lord – as a human being you need to take care of certain things like school, study, work, exercise, meeting, rest, etc. Make sure these take priority, and then Facebook. Learn to make a schedule, and limit your being on Facebook. Don’t worry, you won’t miss much!
• Fellowship with your Christian friends outside of Facebook. Use facebook to set a time, and get together physically / via phone to talk and pray. Pray for your being on Facebook. Read the Word. Be sanctified. Learn to FLEE together. Learn to NOT drink of what Facebook has to offer. Be vigilant. Be one with the 300 in Gideon’s army today. Be an overcomer!
• Fellowship with other saints and even older ones: how can we use Facebook for the Lord? Don’t keep it extremely personal and private – fellowship about it. We need much more encouragement on this line, and more fellowship on how to not be usurped by Facebook but rather use it for the Lord.

… and many other ways. In everything, fellowship with the Lord, and ask Him to shine on you.

O Lord Jesus, One with You While Browsing Facebook!

Make sure the first thing in the morning is NOT Facebook but your personal touch with the Lord. The last thing I do at night should NOT be Facebook, but opening to the Lord and touching Him in His word and prayer. Disable the notifications when your friends post. Disable as many notifications as possible. Don’t allow Facebook to bother you.

We need to learn to be on guard, ready for the enemy’s attack while being on Facebook. We love the Lord much more than we love Facebook. Let’s cultivate our love for Him, and ask Him to make us His overcomers. We want to be the dispensational instrument in God’s hand that ends this age and brings Him back! We want that in everything, including our time on Facebook, we would be one with the Lord!

PS. Apologies for the length of the article. Still, there will be MORE on this subject – this is just a little I have to share for now.

Pictures credit: facebook logo and Facebook – waste of time.

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