“The Lord replied, ‘Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the Lord— the awesome power I will display for you’” (Exodus 34:10).
My family and I share a Netflix account, so I logged into their page to access the website. There were a lot of titles and colorful images in the background, and a big heading said «Unlimited movies, TV shows and more.» What an appealing invitation! In smaller letters it read, “Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.” By then, their marketing scheme was evident and I laughed thinking that, just like that product, hundreds of products are offered to us every day. I voluntarily played along. I clicked on the icon «Try now» and there found the epitome of the definition of our times: consumerism without compromise. Three characteristics were listed: 1) No commitment, you can cancel anytime; 2) everything is available at a low price; 3) it can all be watched in an unlimited number of devices. What dangerous ideas!
Not that I have anything against Netflix. Those phrases simply caught my attention and I thought it would be interesting to analyze up to what point those ideas begin convincing us of a lie that’s craftily disguised by the enemy.
God is a God of commitment, total commitment, and He wants to do great things with and through us. Both in our personal relationships and our more casual relationships, he asks for commitment on our behalf. Things aren’t cancelled just like that. People aren’t disposable; ministries that are upheld by our work aren’t either.
Things aren’t necessarily available at a low price. There are extremely costly things, like the cost of Jesus saving us, the cost of our health (which is often harmed when we get involved in pastimes that go against the laws of temperance), to name a few.
The act of thinking about unlimited enjoyment is clearly tempting to our Hedonistic nature. But is it really what’s best for us?
Time after time, the enemy will try to covertly deceive us with things that may sometimes even seem good; but not everything that’s available for consumption is truly nutritious. Today, when you’re offered a sweetened product, first ask yourself what’s behind it all.
