Think on These Things

 

Phil 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

I am a person who loves to read and do research. These days it’s a lot harder because newspapers are disappearing and with them in-depth journalism. Nowadays what passes for journalism is people on networks news trying to tell you what to think about things. The days of Walter Cronkite are long gone. “Fair and Balanced” are just slogans. So much of what I see on social media simply makes me mad. Up is down, wrong is right, and everything can be rationalized to fit one perspective or another.

In the past newspaper articles would give you both sides of the argument on any issue and it was up to the reader to decide what to think. People now get their news and form their opinions based on 40-character tweets, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and social media that is designed to cater to a generation with 2-minute attention spans. Fake news and headlines dominate the landscape.

Honestly, it is enough to want to make you ticked off, raise your stress level, and help you to lose your lunch.

While we live in an era of instant communication and it seems that we are constantly bombarded by negativity, it is nothing new. Maybe the sheer volume has increased, but there has always been an endless supply of people trying to convince others that our values and beliefs are outdated and need to be discarded in favor of their new reality.

The Bible, which is universal and the best guide there is to the human experience, tells us to change our focus. Stop concentrating on the things that are designed to lead us astray and look to that which enriches and fills our lives with blessings.

I thought about deleting my Facebook account because of the censorship that it engages in and because of the upsetting things that some people post.

Instead, I decided to change my focus. I am going to post only that which enriches peoples lives.

In other words, I will share that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. These are my “Rays of Light”

To quote Galatians 5:23, “..against these there is no law”.

I would encourage you to do the same thing.

God has given us an incredible bounty of blessings. We miss them because we are so focused on the negative things in our lives. Start writing down the positives. Start sharing stories of God’s work in people’s lives.

Think about such things.