JUNE 29, Psalm 101:3

Julie stared at the television set, mouth ajar. Those pictures are terrible-they’re wicked! she thought, but she didn’t turn the TV off. I’ll watch it just a bit more. Before she knew it, the show was over, and she’d watched it all. Oops! Julie felt a little guilty. Oh, well. I won’t watch it again.

As Julie was turning off the TV, her mother came into the room. “I’m glad you shut that off,” said Mom with a smile. “So much stuff on TV has a bad influence on us, whether we realize it or not.” As Julie nodded, the back door slammed, and little Benny came in crying. “What’s wrong, Benny Boy?” asked Mom.

Benny raised his chubby little hand and showed his mother a large red welt. “I got stung by a bee,” he sobbed.

“Come on-we’ll go take care of that,” said Mom putting an arm around Benny.

Julie watched as Mom checked to make sure the stinger was out and gently washed the sore spot. “My science book says bees put a little poison in your skin when they sting you,” Julie told her.

Benny’s sore was taken care of, and he went out to play, but every now and then, he came back in to say the sting still hurt.

Julie sighed. She was having problems, too - problems of a different kind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t erase from her mind the images she had seen on TV. They stayed with her when she went to play outside, when she did her chores, and when she sat down to read.

Benny scowled as he came back in. “That bee had lots of poison,” he announced, “not just a little.”

Mom smiled and gave him a hug as she spoke to Julie. “That reminds me of what we were saying about TV programs,” said Mom. “The poison in a bee’s stinger is like the influence of the world on a Christian. Just a little bad language or a few wrong pictures can go a long way to have a bad effect on a person’s thoughts.” Julie nodded. She’d found out how true that was.

Thought: Are you careful about what you see on TV? Be smart and turn the television off if there’s nothing worth watching. Or what you read – be careful too!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to be discerning and guard myself against the bad influences of media. In Jesus’ name I pray – amen.