Elizabeth Pemberton September 28th 2014 ~ I will follow you...

I have ventured into the wonderful world of Instagram this month and it has been quite an adventure! My sister-in-law invited me to join her in a ‘photo-a-day’ challenge, which has been both fun and a bit vexing as each day I have read the photo prompt word and tried to figure out what picture to take! My family have observed with interest, sometimes offering to be the subject of the photos and sometimes running in the opposite direction when they see me coming!One of the things I find really interesting about things like Instagram and Twitter is the number of followers you can end up with. If you have a public account, anyone can follow you. It’s a bit like having your own personal fan club who check out what you’re up to every day, which is kind of strange when you’re a pretty ordinary suburban girl who loves Jesus and her family and enjoys watching BBC TV shows while drinking tea.But strangeness aside, the thing about having followers is that it can be quite a responsibility, when you think about it; It actually means you can potentially have some kind of influence over someone. It might only be that they check out your photos and decide whether to ‘like’ them or not but they also could visit a coffee shop you recommend, start reading a book you like, or even make decisions based on what they see you doing or saying.This could seem a little scary but it is also an amazing opportunity. I’m not suggesting you all go out and start Tweeting, Facebooking and Instagramming, or that you spend hours on social media– but if you are on it, why not take the opportunity to be good news to all the people who might be following you. Be salt and light to your followers. Share good news stories, words of encouragement, Bible verses, photos that bring joy and life to others. You Instagrammers could set up your own photo-a-day challenge and take photos of generosity, love, compassion, prayer , community, family, sharing, care for the vulnerable, and share those. Or share beautiful pictures of God’s creation. Tweeters could share prayer needs: a simple, “Praying for the people of Iraq today; join me” could call others to share in prayer. Facebook photos or posts designed to encourage, build up, bring love and laughter to people could be a great blessing.Face-to-face relationships are still what we’re made for but in a world where more and more people are regularly glued to a screen, why not be a good news bringer in their midst? Maybe your photos and words might even encourage and invite them to step away from their screens a little more and find life, joy and love in face-to-face community.With love and blessings,LizMatthew 5:14-16⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”