But One Thing Is Needful

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -Psalm 119:105


I hope you don't think I'm stretching a point to apply Jesus' words to the subject at hand. Yes, we are "cumbered about" many things. Nonetheless, we must choose the thing which is needful.

You and I, being Southerners, would no doubt have sat Jesus down at the kitchen table and carried on a conversation while busily preparing the meal. Delicious food and gracious conversation; the hallmarks of our hospitality, right?

Still Mary chose simply to sit with Jesus and devote her entire attention to his words: "that good part."

Right. So here comes the stretch. Having heard the Lord's words, we still have to apply them, to choose that which is better in all our day-by-day activities. In other words, I find myself thinking all too seldom of how God is glorified in whatever I am engaged in at any given moment.

I am thinking just now of how I choose to entertain myself. In particular, as we sit each evening around the TV set; what we are watching and why.

My $7.99 a month Netflix subscription allows me to watch a wide variety of movies, TV shows, documentaries, etc. Only a tiny percentage of this material was created for God's glory.

Still, He rules over all and His purpose is served in all things.

Yet, am I not responsible to seek the reflection of his glory in all the things I view? From Andy Griffith to Bones to the various nature programs?

It is easy to see how Sheriff Andy Taylor models Christ to his neighbors and his family. But where is the good when Seeley Booth makes an inadequate defense of his professed faith to his partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan? Her foolish (and generic)statements of unbelief would be so easily refuted, it seems.

Or not? It reveals to me that I am not as readily conversant with Christianity as I ought to be whenever I fail to properly contend for the faith, as I do sometimes (you know, "I should have said this, or that.")

Aren't we bound to not only seek entertainment from a well-plotted crime story (or whatever you prefer to watch) but to engage its worldview  from the standpoint (or even better, the vantage point) of biblical wisdom?

Is this the needful part, the better part?

It's all too easy to be consumed by the BoobTube. There's a lot of junk spewing forth there. Discernment is required, that the wrong stuff not be allowed into our minds and our hearts.

Finally, I've said all that to say this: I have begun to blog at this site:

 http://troalbridge.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/thats-what-i-think-anyway/


You know that I write here to express my thoughts on matters of the Christian faith, to share my experiences and beliefs, to encourage you to think about yours, to invite you into conversation if you feel so moved.

At "Speaking in General," the focus will be on what I think about what I watch: recommendations, heads-ups, and musings in general. I understand that there are things I am better off not watching. I understand that those things may be different for you than for me. I am aware of my own weaknesses and tailor my viewing accordingly.

I pray that you are not offended by what I choose to watch. I seek only to entertain and share while attempting to focus on what is needful.