Have you ever noticed that when God tells you to do something and you don't immediately do it, He pursues you RELENTLESSLY? If you aren't obedient the first time, He doesn't just say "Well, never mind". I don't do that with my kids when they don't do what I ask the first time. I STAY on them until they do it. God is the same way.
For quite awhile, God has been "prompting" us to get rid of our cable. We didn't listen. He didn't stop asking. EVERY single time I would turn around, there would be another "sign" or another tap on my heart that it was time to "unplug" it. I didn't listen. I didn't step out in obedience.
I have tossed and turned and run every direction except in the direction He has asked. I have tried to be "partially" obedient in regards to making good choices about watching what is appropriate. However, partial obedience doesn't exist. It's still flat out disobedience. I go through the roof when my kids only partially do a job I have asked, God expects no less of me. The more I began to make better choices about what I would watch, I still didn't have peace that I was doing the right thing. God has asked more of us. It may not be something he is asking of your family, but for us this is what He has asked.
So today, I did what he asked. We are going COLD TURKEY and ending our relationship with the cable company (except for Internet service). That also means that for the interim, we will also be without normal/regular TV as well. Our TVs are "ancient" and will require the converter boxes to receive any channels. We could probably go purchase the box, but at this point, we are going to wait. We can still watch shows on our laptops through Hulu or Fancast and I have reactivated our Netflix accounts so we can watch movies through our Wii. I still need access to educational programming. We still want to watch movies and programs as a family. TV in itself isn't bad. That isn't the issue.
The issue is that God asked us to make a change and we didn't step out in faith and follow his direction. I decided it was more important to hang on to my habits than to follow God's request. I decided I cared more about what my kids might think or what our "friends" might think. I cared more about what the world might think of us becoming EVEN greater FREAKS! Perhaps, THAT is exactly why God says to unplug it!
The first step is complete and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted because I finally did what He asked. I have completely removed the TV set from our bedroom. We've talked about it many times before, but never committed to doing it. I watch A LOT of TV after everyone else was asleep. Now that I won't have a DVR with hours of recorded shows, that issue is suddenly a non-issue. Since my change in heart about what is appropriate for me to personally watch has drastically changed, that backlog of shows had rapidly decreased anyway. Talking about wasted money down the drain! I also was hesitant about doing it because Bradlee crawls in bed with me EARLY in the morning and as soon as he wakes up, I turn a show on for him so I can "steal" another few minutes of sleep. I'm not sure how God will solve that problem for me, but if nothing else, maybe I need to be up at 6:30 with him doing something more important than sleeping!
Who knows exactly why God has lead us this way? We don't have a clue what blessings we have missed by waiting so long to do what he has asked. All I know is that He was NOT going to let me off the hook and let me stay comfortable by being disobedient. I'm hoping that what seems radical today, will feel PERFECT before long and our only regrets will be that we didn't listen the VERY first time he knocked on our hearts!
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