We now live in what has become known as the "information age." People communicate through e-mail on a daily basis. Families now can communicate in an instant. This is all free of charge as long as you have a connection to the Internet. These great advancements in technology are growing and rapidly bringing a close to delayed communications and possibly even the postal system itself.

    As with all great things God has given us, Satan has been planning and devising ways to use it to his advantage. Such tactics were first employed in the garden of Eden. God created all things and called them good. The trees were all good but God put a condition on one of them, and Satan used this instance to lure man away from God and has been doing so ever since.

    This information age has only been around for about 20 years since computers were first made available to the masses. Since that time, a whole different side of this instant communication has evolved; a side in which Satan has fostered sin and all kinds of ungodliness. The impersonal nature of today's communication allows one to be as anonymous and deceitful as they wish. People masquerade as someone else and even steal other people's real identities. Many sites have virtual rooms where you can go and chat and meet new people and exchange ideas and information. But sadly, people misuse and abuse such a forum. You see it on the news all the time. Teen girls meet older men and women leave their husbands for someone they have met online. Sin is perpetuated and immorality is given free reign in this little world.

    Many Christians have been caught up in this world of sin Satan has devised. Temptation has drawn them away and caused them to do things ordinarily they would have not. Paul told the Corinthians to flee sexual immorality (1 Cor 6:18) and to do whatever it took to get rid of it in their lives.

    However, this online world is not a temptation for some. Many people in this new day and time have met other Christians and been able to keep in touch and chat with long lost friends from years gone by. It truly has been a blessing to those who have used it in a Godly manner. But those to whom it has become a stumbling block should put it away from them or put serious safe guards in place so that they don't flirt with sin and lose their soul.

    Let the reader be aware that while the online world that now exists has the ability to harbor ungodliness and all kinds of sin, this is only a part of the online realm. Just like in the everyday real world that we live, sin abounds but we must strive each day to live as the Lord would have us to live. We shouldn't just close up our computers and bail from the internet just because a select few in the population have misused what God has given man the knowledge to create but rather foster the good that can be done with it.

    I'm thankful for this technology because without it, I would have never met the person whom I have come to love so dearly. I would not be able to email family and friends who live so far away and keep in touch. The gospel of our Lord is being carried through out the world more easily and into the hearts of so many who might not have received it before. If you walk in this online world, walk as you do in the real world, "circumspectly", (Ephesians 5:15) such that you guard yourself against sin and glorify our God who is heaven.

    Below are some spiritually rooted guidelines adapted from http://www.naznet.com/ethics that might be profitable to consider by any Christian who is actively on the internet:

• Guard your online relationships. Attachments develop as easily on the internet as anywhere else, and sometimes more easily because of the anonymity involved in initial exchanges. Particularly guard against relationships that encroach upon the level of trust and faithfulness that is to exist only within a husband/wife relationship.
• Be careful to visit web sites that do not compromise your life in Christ. There are sites on the internet that Christians must avoid, including those that contain pornography. Do not visit such sites, even out of curiosity. When, by accident (and it happens to everyone), you find such a page loading, leave it immediately.
• Take care that your written communications reflect Christ in your life. Even on issues about which you feel passionate, avoid saying things that you feel might be displeasing to the Lord. Represent yourself and you intentions in a truthful and upright manner in all your exchanges.
• Guard your time to assure that your time online is kept in proper balance with the rest of your life. The internet can consume time that should be invested elsewhere: family, church, work responsibilities, and other activities that make for a well rounded life. Especially guard against spending time on the internet that should be spent with the Lord.

---Chris Gautney