“Entertainment is the devil’s substitute for joy. The more joy you have in the Lord, the less entertainment you need.” – Leonard Ravenhill
Entertainment is everywhere today. There are thousands of movies, videos, songs, and social media posts available to us daily. Oftentimes, these things are free allowing us to consume unlimited amounts of entertainment each day. But even though much of our entertainment is free, most people still spend thousands on entertainment each year. Entertainment has changed the way we think. Each time we open social media or watch an online video, we are getting dopamine sent to our brain. Our brain then learns to rely on receiving this dopamine. Thus, entertainment has become like an addictive drug for us. Therefore, we feel that we need entertainment each day. We rely on entertainment to fill a void inside us that only God can fill. We consume entertainment because we want immediate pleasure. Because of this, we often put off things that need to be done now so that we can receive immediate pleasure through entertainment. Some people consume so much entertainment each day that they have no time to complete tasks which are necessary for their well-being. Their family life, school life, or work life declines because they spend so much time scrolling through social media or binge-watching television shows all day. Entertainment is addictive because it gives us what we desire. We desire to listen to good music or watch a funny television show. It brings happiness to us. But this happiness is only temporary. Indeed, one does not remember the vast majority of what he watches on tv or sees on social media. The solution that entertainment provides to this temporary nature of happiness is to provide a steady stream of these temporary moments of happiness. In a television show, when one temporary moment of happiness ends, another begins soon after. Even though the viewer forgets much of what happened in the first part of the show, they do not mind this because they are currently being entertained by another temporary moment of happiness in the show. It is in the very nature of entertainment to keep us addicted to itself. Television producers seek to keep our eyes glued to the screen wondering what will happen next. Video game manufacturers seek to keep you playing their game for hours and hoping that in the next round of the game you will be able to accomplish your goals. Of course, even after you accomplish a goal in a video game, you are still unsatisfied. The solution to this dissatisfaction that the game provides is to keep playing the game in hopes that a better moment of satisfaction will come later. Of course, the player of a video game does not remember the vast majority of the rounds of the game that he has played. He remembers few specific events that have happened in past games. He is only focused on what is happening in the present and not what has happened or what will happen in the future. The tasks accomplished in a video game will help one very little later in life. There is no reason to play the game other than be entertained. Consider a sports fan who watches every game that his favorite team plays. Does the sports fan remember every game that he watches? Surely, he does not! Then why does he watch all the games? He does so to be entertained.
I hope that you are beginning to see what an incredible waste of time entertainment is. There is no good purpose to it as it will not help you later in life. So why do you consume entertainment? Perhaps it is because you are trying to escape the current realities of your life. This is understandable as life is often quite hard. We watch movies that take place in magical lands because we wish to live in magical lands. We play video games in which we play the role of an effective general because we wish to be like an effective general. We watch funny television shows because we want to laugh and forget about all our problems in our current lives. We scroll through social media looking at what other people have done because we are unsatisfied with what we have done. Entertainment is an escape. I am not saying that it is always wrong to watch a movie or search through something on social media. But I encourage you to examine your motives for doing so. What is it that you truly desire? What are you truly trying to achieve? What if you stopped trying to escape from the realities of your current life and instead tried to make your current life better by following God? We cannot spend so much time on entertainment if we wish to do anything good in life. Do not try to escape the unpleasant parts of your life. Instead conquer them.
Many people feel as if they need an escape from their life and that not having one would lead to depression and overall decline in their life. So, I would like to offer an alternative to entertainment. That alternative is prayer. Prayer truly offers an escape from this life on earth. Prayer spiritually unites you with God your Father. Prayer reminds you what is truly important in this life: your relationship with God. Now, you might be doubting the effectiveness of prayer particularly as an alternative to the escape that is entertainment. But reader, I assure you that prayer is far more effective than entertainment. There have been times in my life that I have been burdened by the many troubles of life. But then I have prayed and suddenly the weight of those burdens has been lifted from me and I have been overcome with a joy that is only experienced when one is in communion with God. There is perhaps no greater action you can take to strengthen your relationship with God than prayer. Jesus set aside time to pray alone with God. Matthew 14:23 says, “After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.” You need to find a place that is free of distractions where you can pray alone daily. The demons seek to prevent you from praying. They try to distract you with the meaningless things of the world. They are terrified of what is possible in a Christian who prays to the Lord multiple times a day just as Daniel did in the book of Daniel. They want to keep you addicted to entertainment and therefore subservient to their cause. The demons help the producers write the movie scripts, the video game manufacturers make the video games, the social media influencers make the social media posts, and the singers write the songs. Your brain is more susceptible to subtle influence when you are consuming entertainment. So, stop consuming the devil’s substitute for joy. Find true joy in Christ. Pray to the Lord multiple times a day. Keep a prayer book in which you write down some of your prayers. This allows you to remember what you prayed more thoroughly, and it also allows you to see what you have prayed in the past. Dear reader, if there is one thing in your life that you must not neglect it is prayer.
“Pray without ceasing” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
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