“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4, NKJV).
Whether keeping up with the day-to-day news, or simply living out my personal daily life, getting tangled up in the weeds of chaos and confusion is hard to avoid. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite, American journalist beginning his career in 1950 and someone I remember well growing up at that time. According to the online Biography website, Cronkite’s “Hallmarks of style were honesty, impartiality, and level-headedness,” and signed off every evening with the words, “And that’s the way it is.” Oh, how I miss those days!
Today, “news” is sent across the airways, intruding into our lives minute by minute, dinging our phones that rarely leave our hands, while partisan politics pits neighbor against neighbor. “Journalism,” no longer honest, impartial, or level-headed by design (compliments of our learning institutions), can only be captured in part by one’s “surfing the channels” to obtain even a glimpse of truth of the day’s events. My head is spinning.
What is one to do to keep one’s sanity? When Paul wrote his letter to the church of Colossi, life must have looked somewhat like that of our modern-day world. Distraction has always been a part of the human experience and a single trait Satan uses with alarming success. Eve was distracted by Satan in the Garden of Eden to focus on God’s one restriction rather than on her abundance. A more current illustration is that in 2022, 3,308 lives were lost on roads in America because of distracted drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Distraction is deadly!
For those of us who follow Jesus Christ, we must be diligent to keep our eyes on Him alone. As the days of Jesus’ return quicken, distractions will pop up all around us. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NKJV). “Set your mind on things above” (Col. 3:2). “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15, emphasis mine).
God’s Word is truth. Remain in it. “And that’s the way it is!”
For deeper understanding, read Ephesians 5.
Work Cited
Biography.com Editors. “Walter Cronkite Biography.” Biography, A&E Television Networks, April 19, 2021, https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/walter-cronkite.