In my characteristic outside-the-box thinking, I recently suggested, “Let’s get rid of some furniture and put a ping-pong table in the living room.” So we did! But that meant also converting the dining room into a TV room. (Welcome to my unconventional world!) We reconfigured the TV and antenna, having dropped cable years ago. Since we rarely watch TV, this worked fine until today, when we unsuccessfully tried to watch the Broncos’ football game due to poor channel reception. We moved the antenna to various locations, each time rescanning all of the channels—a time-consuming exercise. Surprisingly, this only resulted in losing that local channel completely! I was baffled.
During one last antenna move and channel rescan, I noticed it had been scanning for cable channels rather than using the digital antenna. No wonder I’d had no success! Once set to the correct source, we were back in business.
During this process, I read you should rescan your TV’s channels every month for best reception. This reminds me of my soul’s antenna. I find that when I’m tired (or distracted by all the static in the world) my antenna tends to droop and I’m not as receptive to good input. My thoughts are fuzzy and my reasoning weak. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a good bit of effort to retune to the right source.
God created us to learn and explore and think and innovate. And one of the main ways we take in information is with our eyes—whether through reading, watching, or observing.
Solomon may not have had a library of books to read or an internet to browse, but he learned by observing both nature and people. I Kings 4:33-34 explains that, He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. He wrote most of the book of Proverbs, filled with do’s and don’ts of interacting with people. He even knew how to deal wisely with political leaders.
Despite incredible wisdom, Solomon got complacent about his personal antenna, ending up with bad programming. His wealth-induced laziness opened the door for idol worship and ultimately the destruction of the very country over which he ruled.
We can learn from Solomon’s failure and stay alert to our antenna placement. Are we tuning into God’s truth or carelessly taking in whatever the TV and social media dish out? As Peter and Paul both advise, it’s our choice. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober (I Thessalonians 5:6).
Consider this a public service announcement: Is it time for you to retune your antenna?
