Scroll, Post, Repeat: Why Your Soul Feels Tired
“Like” if You’ve Ever Felt Spiritually Empty
I Bankrupted Blockbuster
In 2004, Blockbuster—remember them?—started mailing DVDs in response to Netflix, which had started its DVD mailing domination in 1998. (At that time, the only streaming movie option was cable’s Pay-Per-View. And, in my mind, you had to be a millionaire to afford that.) Anywhooo… to compete with Netflix, Blockbuster, in 2006, offered a crazy deal. I signed up to receive Blockbuster’s DVD mailing service, went to their website, and selected a long list of DVDs I wanted mailed to me. (Pro tip: I would pick the most in-demand movies to be sent by mail because the brick-and-mortar Blockbuster store wouldn’t always have those in stock.) Here’s the deal: you could return your mailed movie to the store and claim a FREE in-store rental when you did! That return would then queue up my next mail-in movie, and the process would repeat itself. Blockbuster went bankrupt four years later. RIP, Blockbuster.
Embarrassing facts of my life: I discovered that rental loophole during my third year at LSU and exploited it for all it’s worth. Once, while diving into my Blockbuster settings, I came upon my activity report. I discovered that in one year I had watched over 260 movies! Do you know how many days are in a year? I was watching five movies a week! Guys, there aren’t that many good movies out there! Embarrassing fact of your life: right now, the average human watches 24 hours of TV and movies a week! That means one full, uninterrupted day out of seven is spent consuming entertainment. Yikes—that’s way worse than my college days, y’all.
Make Your Phone Boring
How much time do you spend in your digital world? You need to track your usage, people! It would be healthy to know your self-made number. Just turn on the Screen Time setting on your phone and watch the hours accumulate. I did this years ago. In the past, I could easily spend eight hours a day on my phone. I compared my horrible screen time habits with my nephews’ at Thanksgiving. Mine was bad; his was worse. (Sorry, lil bro.) That day, I removed all my video streaming apps—except the TED app (that one’s inspirational). And to make my phone more boring, I made my iPhone screen black and white. Over the last month, I’m proud to say I’m down to an average of 4 hours and 40 minutes on my phone, and 7 hours and 20 minutes when my phone and computer time is combined. I’m now below average at something!
We live in two worlds. This digital world is as real as the world IRL. And for most of us, we believe more is happening on our screens than in the life occurring right outside our window.
More proof? X clocks a relentless 9,596 tweets per second. A 2025 study reports that 64% of internet users comment regularly, while 82% love scrolling through others’ takes.
What fuels our updates on X, Instagram, and Amazon reviews? Why are we so convinced the world is hungry for our opinions? The writer Joseph Reagle puts it sharply: “Comments are identity badges. They proclaim: This is me.” A fiery political thread or a five-star blender review shouts, “Hear me. See me.” Reagle adds, “Commenters want what I want—to have our ideas heard and weighed. We all crave a voice—if only we could stop shouting long enough to listen.”
Likes Are Not Hugs
Do you want 100+ likes in a day? If you’re my age, you know how to chase likes. We just post a picture of our kid at the pool with some cute caption: “They’re growing up so fast!” Likes and comments pour in—She needs sunscreen! My little man! They’re so cute! Our brain’s endorphins equate those digital comments with the experience of a warm hug. We’ll admit to over-checking our phones and sensing a low-grade anxiety when the notifications stop. If our social lives depends on 👍🏻 or 🥰, then the digital world will leave us feeling disliked and alone.
We are a generation that chases “likes.” We strut like peacocks. Our posted life is a flimsy substitute for lasting satisfaction. If you’re searching for contentment, let me be clear—you will not find it on any screen. If you want to be fully known, you’ll need to turn your search heavenward. Psalm 139 says, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me… Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” God’s opinion of you doesn’t flatter. It transforms.
Posting and Prayer . Polar Opposites
Posting chases approval. Prayer seeks wisdom (James 1:5).
Posting grabs for power. Prayer humbles us (Philippians 2:3–4).
Posting blasts our thoughts. Prayer begs for a new heart (Psalm 51:10).
Posting flaunts who we are. Prayer confesses who we are (1 John 1:9).
Posting builds self-confidence. Prayer fosters selflessness (Galatians 2:20).
Our online lives are illusions—carefully curated to dazzle a fickle, fake world. But God sees through the filter. He knows you better than you know yourself. Anyone can post. But prayer? That can only be done through Jesus.
Consider praying more than posting. The Lord declares in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
So let’s humble ourselves.
Let’s pray…
Lord Jesus, we confess that we are far too eager to be seen and far too slow to seek You. We chase likes, applause, and attention, while neglecting Your presence and Your Word. Forgive us for posting more than praying. You alone know us fully. You alone can satisfy. Renew our hearts. Draw us back. And remind us where our true identity is found—in You. Amen.
Thanks for praying! God bless you. We’ll read and pray again next Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
I’m uncertain if you want me to “like” this or not 😂
Pray More, Post Less! Love it.