don't be like them

 Today in the One Year Bible, God tells us to stop watching CNN.

OK, maybe He doesn't say those exact words. But in Jeremiah 10:1-11:23, He says that we should stop being like "the other nations" because they make predictions that are supposed to scare us, and many who listen to them are terrified.

The news media today, whether they are radically left leaning like CNN and Yahoo News, right leaning like Fox, or supposedly unbiased like NPR or the BBC (who might seem unbiased until they start talking about certain issues, like gay marriage or abortion), are all spinning things at you. They're all, frankly, trying to scare you. They are, like the nations that God (through Jeremiah) warns us about in our passage today, "making predictions" based on their world views. And their world views are like sand... anything built on them is going to crash.

So don't be afraid! That doesn't mean bad things won't happen. If you've lived on this planet for any length of time, you know bad things will happen. But we don't have to be afraid. In fact, God commands us NOT to be afraid. He also commands us to stop being anxious. He commands us to rejoice. He commands us to think about good things! Philippians 4:8 tells us that whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy should be the focus of our thoughts. 

Give your brain a break from the spin the news media is shoveling at you. And focus your mind on the good. You'll be glad you did.

God, thanks for teaching us not to be afraid.