Daily Devotional for July 22, 2007

Proverbs 17
1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
2 A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
4 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
5 Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
6 Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
7 Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.
(Scripture taken from the King James Version, 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States. To read this passage from The Message, go to www.biblegateway.com and do a passage lookup.)

We have become a society ruled by the news media. We are bombarded with news, from the major networks and their local affiliates to the cable news channels to the “tabloid” news, such as Entertainment Tonight, Extra, E!, and more. And I won’t even talk about the tabloids you can buy at any check-out stand and their idea of “news.” The airwaves have been saturated with “news” of Paris Hilton and her incarceration, Lindsay Lohan and her trip to rehab, Tori Spelling’s “ordination” as a minister. Remember Mel Gibson and his troubles? What about Michael Richards and Don Imus? Depending on your age, you may or may not have been old enough to pay any attention to the O.J. Simpson trial, but many of us were glued to our televisions, afraid to miss any gory details.”

So what?” you may be asking. This is all harmless “entertainment” – something to talk about with friends. It would seem that way, wouldn’t it? But as I have said before, you never know who is listening and watching. And even talk about the mundane – or sensational – events of celebrities’ lives is disheartening to God. Some will try to justify the talk… “Celebrities should expect to be talked about – it goes with the territory.” What if young children hear this? They are not mature enough to filter it and understand what they are hearing. They may draw the wrong conclusions. They may have a hard time making the distinction between “celebrity gossip” and reality. And child or not, pretty soon we are all criticizing and discussing the person down the street right along with the celebrity we do not know.

From time to time, we all see the rich and famous doing and saying things that we know are wrong. But it is easy for Satan to use this to weave these thoughts, words, and feelings into the fabric of OUR daily lives. Soon we are snubbing those less fortunate. We are calling people names or peppering our language with four-letter words (and wondering where on earth our kids heard them!), and we are accepting less than decent behavior as the “social norm.” It’s a slippery slope, isn’t it?!

We have to be careful about what we watch, read, hear and discuss. We have to be selective in our music, our friends, and what we do with our time, talents and money. Have you noticed how often gossip and lying are discussed in Proverbs? We must stay on our toes to make sure that these are not a part of our daily living!

©2007 Debbie Robus