Seek Wisdom

Intro

How many hours of screentime do you have per day. Everyone take our your phone, this is going to be revealing. Go to settings and type in screentime

Avg screentime of Gen Z 7-9hrs a day = 49-63 hrs a week - that’s more than a full time job of being on your phone.

We are VERY connected with our devices

Here is the question, [hold up a phone] is this actually the problem?

No, the problem we have is not a device problem, but a wisdom problem.

Proverbs 2:1–5 NIV

1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

These first five verses contain a powerful “If-Then” statement. These are common in philosophy, and the argument is clear and direct. If you seek wisdom as intently as you would looking for silver or hidden treasure, then you will find true understanding, the knowledge of God.

Story of having to go find something - wouldn’t normally do -

Wisdom doesn’t come to us in a push notification that we then scroll through and find it. We must actively search for wisdom. Look at the benefits wisdom brings to us:

Benefits of Wisdom:

Proverbs 2:6–11 NIV

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

There are three elements repeated in this passage: understanding, wisdom and protection. Wisdom comes from God, verses 6-9 are clear He is the one who gives wisdom, understanding, and with it comes success. Then in verses 9 to 11 these benefits are repeated for the person who has received wisdom:

Understanding, Wisdom and Protection

When it comes to how technology is integrated within our lives, we need wisdom and the benefits of wisdom to know how to best deal with and shape the use of technology. Following these three benefits, today we will begin our series by understanding what our phones are doing to us, we will apply wisdom to that reality and by applying that wisdom, it will serve as a protection or guard for our souls.

Understanding: What is Happening to Us?

The psychologist Shelly Turkle who has studied the impact of technology on us as people says,

“These little devices in our pockets are so psychologically powerful that they don’t only change what we do, they change who we are.” Shelly Turkle

I know that sounds a little intense, is this true? Are our phones actually changing who we are? Does technology have the capacity to change us? We often think about technology as things which are new, cutting edge and, in our world, electronic. But technology has been around forever. In this way, the printing press was a technological invention. Did the printing press change us as humans? It didn’t fundamentally alter our nature, or the fact that we were made in the image of God and that we crave and thrive on relationships, that we need food and shelter and love. But it did shape how we think about knowledge. It made the written word more accessible and increased the importance of literacy in society; things many of us take for granted today. So, it should not surprise us that any device has the capacity to impact us. The question is how is it impacting us?

Our phones make us think we are in charge.

That is the shift we must be aware of. Our phones are a perfect example. How often do you check your phone a day? A study a few years ago found that the average person reported they checked their phone 10 times a day. Turns out, most of us check it 50 to 100 times a day, often once every 10-20 minutes during our waking hours.[1] If you have a watch that connects to your phone, like me, and you receive notifications, it is likely even more often than that you are interrupted. While the interruptions itself prevent us from being present, here is what this is doing to us. We get to determine what we are focusing on and what has our attention. We never have to be bored. I am in control of my world.

[1] https://www.churchandculture.org/blog/2025/12/8/the-great-brain-drain

So that is what is happening to us. The question is what do we do about it? If Solomon, one of the wisest people to ever live, had this device, what would he do with it?

Wisdom: What do we do about this?

DND

Leave your phone

Choose to be bored for 30minutes a day

Protection: How this will help our soul

Protects us from things we shouldn’t fool around with

Protects our hearts and mind from being overwhelmed w/notifications

Protects us from believing that we are most important.