Consider the Source

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Somebody tells you something. It sounds really juicy. It’s a hot story. It fires your imagination. But - and here’s the really important part - is it true?

It really doesn’t matter how good the story is unless it’s true. (Unless you’re seeking to merely be entertained.) But in the case of useful information, we have to consider the source of the information equally important to the information received. Without the viability of the story related, the story is just vanity - even if it is really big news. Especially if it is very big news.

Consider the case of supermarket tabloids. You glide by in the checkout lane and the headlines scream out all sorts of fanciful stories. Large typeface screams out. Doctored photos seem to purport the truth of various celebrity lives. (Why we seem to care about celebrity lives is another story.)

But it doesn’t matter how big the news is, or how fantastic the story, because we know those tabloid rags are unreliable sources of the truth, and we understand in most cases those stories are lies – doctored news pretending to be true. We scan for evidence of computer enhancement in the photos. (We know there is some.)

This stuff is junk. Of no use to anyone except the rare individual, (and I guess there must be a lot of them,) who find some brief entertainment in reading made-up news about famous people. To me this is trash, and I would never invest in it.

How amazing it is we live our lives based on ungodly advice we receive from friends, TV personalities, websites, and family members. We are told to “get a divorce,” or “quit that job,” or, “take that medication,” at the drop of a hat. We value the advice based on how sincere the people are, or how much they seem to care for us, or perhaps how famous the person offering the advice is. But ungodly advice is just that: ungodly. Why would anyone receive and act on advice contrary to God’s perfect will for their lives as declared by His Word?

-  Pastor Bill