I was reminded today of an episode of “The Twilight Zone” that I saw years ago where a man was left in a desert alone with a robot. He was left there for an experiment and the woman robot was to be his companion. He knew that the woman was not real and although she had the attributes of a person, her emotions were manufactured.
Time went by and the robot approached the man with love but he rejected her knowing that she wasn’t real. Eventually though, he gave in and would spend time with her playing games of chess, even embracing her lovingly. He was lonely and he needed something to fill his time and his life. They continued with this seeming relationship for months until suddenly the men that had left him in the desert returned.
When the men returned they told him it was now time to leave. He immediately thought about the woman and said they couldn’t leave without her. The men looked at him like he was insane. Why did he want to take this robot? Did he not remember she wasn’t real? He insisted on taking her when the men reminded him that she was only a robot. He argued with them saying that she was real and he pushed them away running to find her. Then one of the men took the robot and exposed all the machinery inside of her. The man who’d been left in the desert with her was shocked. In all the time that he was in the desert with the robot he had forgotten she wasn’t real. He left with the men and returned back to his former life before the desert.
As I sat before the Lord today, I realized that I have forgotten where I came from. The things of this world have too easily distracted me. I want to confess that although I have been walking with the Lord for twelve years now, I have allowed the world to distract me from the things I am called to do. I wept before the Lord today because like the man in “The Twilight Zone,” I often forget that all that is around me is not reality. I’m not talking about not enjoying a good movie, or laughing, dancing, or hanging out. That is all part of life and we should enjoy those things. And yes there are problems in the world and things are crazy right now. But didn’t the Bible talk about all of these things? Is it really a surprise? If the “things” that we do ever get in the way of spending time in God’s presence and growing in our gifting and callings then they have all become a false idol. They are a replacement for greater intimacy and time with the Lord. They become a deceptive tool to keep you distracted from what God is trying to tell you.
God is a God of second and third chances but there may come a time when you lose out on all that He has for you because you simply weren’t ready. How do you remedy this? Don’t forget about God. And don’t be like the man in “The Twilight Zone” who forgot that the desert he was in was only temporary and for a purpose, and that the robot that was sent to keep him company was only for a time. Don’t let the “things” in your life take your time away from being in His presence. Don’t let those “things” keep you from being all that you can be and fulfilling your purpose for such a time as this. Our days on earth are numbered…don’t waste them.
-Lynda H.
