Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. —Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
My husband and I had been counting the days until the debut of a new TV drama that promised great things. The producer was world renowned. The lead female was immensely likable. The premise intrigued us both. And so, with sky-high expectations, we set our DVR to record the program and were childishly giddy the night we actually got to pile into bed, a giant bowl of popcorn between us, and hit Play.
The first half hour had us hooked. But then came episode two. Within fifteen minutes, I knew my husband and I weren’t long for this particular path. As the characters’ stories unfolded, so did vast amounts of selfishness, scheming, and smut. “No,” I screamed at the TV, “the teasers looked so good!”
My husband laughed as he flipped channels to find something else, and a verse I’d known since I was a kid eased its way through: “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Avoiding a not-so-pure TV show is admittedly a very small step in what is the vast universe of God-honoring activity in this life. But it was a small step toward the God I adore.
