Back in the 20th century, my job as a youth pastor often took me onto the local high school campuses to visit with students. Almost every time I went, I chose to wear the exact same T-shirt.

“Why?” you ask.

Simple ... it started conversations like no other T-shirt I have ever owned before or since. And these were not short, 10 second sound bite conversations that resulted from my T-shirt. These were not, “So, how is school going?” kind of conversations. These were the real deal. They were honest, reflective conversations with teens that often had significant emotion and passion wrapped up in the dialogue.

Let me tell you what the three words on the T-shirt were (in case you haven’t guessed from the title of this article):

kill
your
television

These three words got everyone that I came into contact with talking.

Now it’s the 21st century, and media formats have changed more than just a little bit, so today the shirt might says, “Kill Your Cell Phone” or maybe “Kill Your Facebook”, but I’m not sure it would get such a deep reaction. There is something about television.

I would be the first in line to tell you that I enjoy watching a good show.  In May, the last episodes of the popular program Lost were broadcast. I watched every one-hour episode of that series: all 120 of them. That is nearly a week of my life given to watching a flickering screen deliver a sci-fi story about people I will never meet.  I wonder what else I could have done with that time?

In the last chapter of The Gospel of John, we get a glimpse into one of the final days of Jesus’ life on the earth. He has already been crucified and resurrected and will soon ascend into Heaven. It is almost time for him to commission his followers to go into the entire world and share the good news of salvation.  If ever the clock was ticking, it is now, as plans are being set in motion that will arguably change the course of history like none-other.

And in these final days, what is Jesus doing with his time?  Did he set off on a speaking tour of the region? Did he write a book? How did he maximize the little time he had left?  Well, according to John 21, he gives fishing advice to a few disheartened friends and prepares them a breakfast on the beach as they row in their boats. He places a priority on the people who he cares about most.

In the past people have said, “Time is Money”.

In some places and for some moments, this might be true, but there is a greater truth that is overshadowed by this statement:  “Time is Limited”

How you and I spend our time tells a story about our souls.  What we give our focus to can leave a legacy or vaporize like mist.

This is not an article about the evils of technology because technology isn’t evil. Rather, it’s an article about our priorities, and it turns out that God has modeled to us what is most important: people.

So, the clock is ticking ... your time is limited … what or who do you want to be in front of you?