Ever felt like life is too busy and you just don't have time to do anything? Mike Rimmer has got a radical suggestion that he thinks you might find too challenging!

Mike Rimmer

"I only ever watch documentaries and the news on TV!" You'd be surprised how many people say that to me when I tell them that I don't have a television. Nobody will ever admit to mindlessly vegetating in front of the small screen and yet that's what millions of us do. But not me! I chose a different way and challenge you to do the same.

Fifteen years ago I read a statistic that the average Briton will spend ten years watching televison. Ten years!!! Imagine what you could achieve if you spent that time on something else. You could tell thousands of people about Jesus, you could train to become a doctor, you would definitely have time to do all those little things that you currently think you don't have time to do.

How many of us wish we had time to learn a musical instrument? What about the time to really get alone with God and understand the Bible? If right now you keep on making excuses and claim that spending more than ten minutes a day with God is impossible because you're so busy, I'd say it's time to pull the plug on the TV.

But could you live without your daily dose of soaps? You don't think you can, do you? I mean, what would you talk about at work? For many of us we are aware that our lives lack spiritual power. If you have a tendency to go up and down in your walk with God, it's time to discover a better way.

Deciding to free yourself from the grip of the TV might be just the fresh start that you need. Like any drug, you're bound to suffer withdrawls at first. There'll be the cold turkey shakes as you miss Coronation Street and slowly lose touch with what's happening in Eastenders. For me, I missed Star Trek. But trust me, it was not for long!

Soon, instead of watching the results of other people's creativity and mindlessly flicking through the channels, you'll have the opportunity to give your heart to something more meaningful.

Instead of filling your mind, heart and soul with the dubious content and ungodly values that subtly underpin so much TV programming, imagine the kind of spiritual growth that could be achieved if you filled your life with good stuff. Instead of a stop start, boom and bust relationship with God, you would have the space and opportunity to sink your life deeply into God without distractions and the result would make you stronger.

I read that preacher David Wilkerson decided to stop watching late night news and use the hour he normally spent watching TV to pray. Within weeks, God called him to New York to share the gospel with Nicky Cruz and a worldwide ministry Teen Challenge was born. Imagine if he hadn't turned off the telly!

People say that they like to relax in front of the TV after a hard day and I can understand that thinking. But isn't it possible to find other ways of winding down that don't rob your time or sap your brain? What about enjoying a relaxing drink and some light conversation? How about listening to some nice music? Read a good book? Even relax with God and spend some time reading The Bible? Or how about doing something creative? Write poetry, paint a picture or take up a hobby.

We seem to be a generation that has lost its creativity and I blame TV. We are a generation who have become Sponge Brain Square Eyes and the revolution starts here. Set yourself free, pull the plug on your TV and do something useful with your life.

Seek God and see whether instead of wasting ten years in front of the tube, you can plug into God and discover a greater sense of destiny. Spend the time serving, reaching out to others and being creative and experience real life with more zing than a million so called reality TV shows.

God has got so much more for you! Why not be completely radical and become TV free? The challenge is there! Try it for a year and measure the difference.