My recent struggle

I still remember it like it was yesterday. For the most part, it was yesterday.

On Sunday evening after the church service a few of us retired to a friends house and had a relaxed evening of games, tea and chatting. And then it happened. I didn't even notice it at the time. I got up, said my goodbyes and left. Not until I arrived back at home and was walking up the stairs sis I reach into my pocket. I found nothing. I checked my other pockets, then growing nervous I raced back out to the car. Not there either. I tore open my bag, knowing I would never have put it there, but in desperation I threw everything else to the floor and dug to the bottom. Nothing.

This was how I started a 24-hour period without my iPhone.

The sad thing is that while it sounds like I'm making the ordeal a lot more dramatic than it actually was, I'm really not. I genuinely ran about the house, furiously retracing my steps over and over again, even after I was sure I must have left it at the friend's house. I didn't want this to be the case because I wasn't sure if I would see her for the next few days and I wasn't prepared to go that long without my phone. I went for the best part of yesterday without it and it was eventually returned to me Monday evening 9.13 GMT.

And even then it had run out of battery.

Only after I once again had it in my possession and had returned to sanity did I begin to realise the situation. I honestly struggled to make it a day without my phone. Several times I thought of texting various people out of nothing but boredom then remembered I couldn't. I couldn't use Twitter, I couldn't check my email, I couldn't look up cinema times...there were an awful lot of things I wanted to do, that I would do most days, that I suddenly found myself unable to do...and my life fell apart.

How much do we invest in things like mobile phones without even realising it?

It doesn't even need to be a phone, what about laptops? MP3 players? Or cars? I've heard many people complain about how much more difficult their lives become when their car is away getting repaired.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt 6:19-21

The thing is, I actually use my mobile phone for an awful lot of churchy things. I text back and forth organizing worship team practises, I don't have internet in the house at the minute so I do all my emailing with church folks via the phone, I follow Pete Grieg and Ken Castor on Twitter because they always have something helpful and spiritual to say which is nice on a troublesome day, and on top of that there are any number of apps allowing me to carry the entire Bible around.

But what I'm realising is: that isn't necessarily a good thing.

What does it say about my Christian faith or my current standing with God that my spiritual life relies so heavily on an earthly treasure? And an earthly treasure at £300 no less! Are our treasures in heaven or on earth?