Am I Becoming a Mouse Potato?

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?” – Romans 6:16

Our nation loves the potato. Whether mashed, baked, browned, or French-fried, potatoes are a favorite. With the advent of the television, however, a new cliché came into being: “couch potato.” The phrase is somewhat comical, bringing to mind the picture of a round person lounging on a couch while watching TV for innumerable hours. Considering the changes in technology and the popular use of computers, I am beginning to wonder if people will start using an updated expression: “mouse potato.”

Recently, I purchased a laptop computer and a scanner for photo negatives. These pieces of hardware have given me cause to drag out old negatives from longtime storage and save them as electronic files. Once scanned, the negatives burst on my screen in brilliant color, including some photos which I had not seen in decades! I find myself wondering, Did my oldest son really look like that? And at times I catch myself thinking, I don't even remember taking this one! I thoroughly enjoy looking through these photos, especially once they have been transferred to my computer's hard drive and I have prompt, if not immediate, viewing. Before I realize it, hours can pass by as I pour over these memories.

Then the sobering thought comes: Have I become a “mouse potato”? Am I a slave to that little handful of electronics that seems to do wondrous things at each click?

Computers are just one pastime that can become overdone in our lives. There is nothing sinful or evil about many leisure pursuits, yet they can detract from our relationship with God. As our focus verse points out, if we yield ourselves to these activities, we are servants to them, and we also know that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). We must be sure that our master is God alone.

That means we have to be careful not to let simple hobbies take up so much of our time that they cut in on the time we would give to the Lord. We can evaluate what standing our pastimes have by asking ourselves, Does it preoccupy our thoughts throughout the day? Are we more concerned with it than with the work of the Lord? If the Lord were to ask us to let it go, would we struggle to obey Him?

As I sat down to my computer this morning, I had a choice. I could turn on my word-processing program and write this article, or turn on my photo-editing software and commence scanning negatives. I refuse to become a “servant” to this mouse! May we never allow a leisure activity to come before our work for the Lord.