I have written at some length about the dangers of an overexposure to “news.” Most of what I have had to say on the subject has to do with the problem of bitterness. Bitterness is a deadly poison and if you are going to spend too much time listening to opinion makers on either side of the political drama in America it will be impossible for you to avoid the poison of bitterness.
But there is another danger, no less deadly, that lies in wait for the person who spends too much time on current events. Jesus warned us about things that can grow in our souls like weeds in a farmer’s field. If the weeds run wild they will choke out the good plants and there will be very little harvest. Jesus warned us that “the cares of the world … enter in and choke the word,” making it “unfruitful.” (Mark 4:20 ESV)
It’s possible for some of us to catch the morning news on TV, listen to talk radio on the way to work and all throughout the work day, and then to watch cable news for several hours in the evening. I suspect that a surprising number of Christians are doing just that and I’m telling you that we need to stop. The cares of this world “choke” the word, which means that they also choke off the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, because the Spirit works primarily through the inspired word. A fifteen minute quiet time is not going to effectively counter eight to twelve hours spent on the “cares of this world.”
If you aren’t making the progress that you would like to be making in the spiritual life, check out the amount of time you are spending on the “news” and start giving more of that time to the Spirit and the word. Having praise music on in your cubicle at work is a good testimony, and it’s good for your soul as well.
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