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We recently went on a cruise with some friends. Of course, we wanted to eat dinner together in the dining room, so I called the cruise line to let them know. The agent made a note on my account, but informed me that our friends would have to call and confirm that they also wanted to eat with us. They had to accept our invitation.
Unfortunately, even though the other couple wanted to eat with us, they neglected to call and confirm. Therefore, it took a while to straighten out our dining reservations when we arrived on the ship.
Invitations Galore
Daily we get invitations to meetings, showers, parties, etc., but until we accept them, the meeting is not confirmed. It remains just an invitation. Sometimes we have a difficult time trying to decide if we should accept an invitation or decline.
We get an invitation from a friend to go out to dinner on a Friday night after a long, hard work week. We don’t want to hurt their feelings, but we are stretched to the max. We just want a night at home to chill. If accepting the invitation stresses you out because you already have too much on your plate, should you kindly decline or should you accept because you’ve been neglecting your social life with friends and acquaintances too much lately? A night out might be rejuvenating!
Social Media Invites
Daily we are invited to be friends or to follow people on social media. Once we accept, we can see their posts, etc. Since we can’t read every post from every person in our scroll, we must quickly decide who to follow and who to pass by. The advice given out from the influencers is just as diverse as those putting it out there.
For example, everyone has an idea of what we should all be drinking in a day. The suggestions differ from person to person. If we drank everything that every social media influencer told us to drink, this is what we would consume in a day:
- Eight to ten cups of water
- Three glasses of milk or dairy
- Up to four cups of coffee
- Up to eight ounces of orange juice
- One to five cups of green tea
- And a glass of red wine
That’s a lot of drinking! This doesn’t even include protein, energy, sodas, or alcoholic drinks that some may consume.
Invites through advertising
Advertisements are a form of invitation that we are bombarded with daily. The average person is exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day. There is no way we could ever respond or even acknowledge a fraction of those, but many do catch our attention. We must then decide if that product or service is right for us.
Sorting it all out
With so many invitations coming at us each day, how do we decide which ones to accept, whose advice to take, and who to follow?
Socially
Do you genuinely care about spending time with the people from that dinner invite? If so, go ahead and accept or offer an alternative date. Strong social connections are an important part of our daily life. On the other hand, if being around this person always brings you down, feel free to politely decline.
Social Media
Is that influencer you follow on social media speaking into your life and benefiting you, or are they just making you anxious, stressed, or angry? Just like you’d toss out an old household item that’s no longer bringing you joy or improving your life, there might be some social media dumping that needs to be done as well. The amount of people you can follow on social media is limited. Therefore, be as selective as you are in picking your in-person friends.
An example of one app I’ve had to dump is Twitter. Previously, there was so much negativity and hatred on there that I couldn’t stand it. I appreciate what Elon Musk has done to clean it up and rename it, and I recently reinstalled it on my phone. I’m not sure I’m going to keep it though. Some of the comments are thoughtful and reasonable, but many are outright lies and slanderous towards other people. My life is too short for that. The Bible tells us to think about things that are honest, just, pure, lovely, and good. (Philippians 4:8.) I don’t see a lot of these kind of things on X or many of the other social media sites today.
With Advertisers
Most advertisers have their best interest at heart — not ours. It’s great when an advertisement comes across our feed that informs us of a product or service we can use to improve our lives. However, keeping in perspective the fact that the advertiser is there to grow their business first and foremost can help us sort out which commercials to watch and which to skip – which is most of them.
Spiritual Invitations
More importantly, God gives us invitations. Sometimes they come in the form of a life-altering invitation like an unplanned pregnancy, or perhaps a calling within our spirit to spend more time with Him through Bible study and prayer. It can even be a special assignment.
No matter the invitation, we are all created with free will and must even accept God’s invitations. God speaks to us in a still, small voice. His invitations are nudges deep within our spirit. He never yells or forces us to do anything against our will. When we accept His invitations, we are never disappointed! Obedience toward God is always good and right!
So Many Decisions
Life is full of choices. According to Psychology Today, we make a whooping 35,000 choices each day! It can be overwhelming. It’s important to keep our personal values in check now more than ever as there are many more different voices reaching out to us than at any time in history.
That’s why I love leaning on and gleaning from the truth of God’s Word. The Word of God can help us sort out everything in our life, including who to socialize with, who to take advice from, and even what to eat and drink.
While opinions vary and change with the times and with individuals, the Word of God always remains firm. It’s a Rock we can depend on even today.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my path and a light unto my feet.
Psalm 119:105
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