December 29, 2020

Fools believe every word they hear, but wise people think carefully about everything. Proverbs 14:15

On Sunday, October 30, 1938 a voice announced over the radio: “The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations present Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the air in ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells.” What followed was a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth. So realistic in fact that people listening actually thought it was happening! Some people fled their homes to escape, while others swamped police departments with telephone calls. It made such an impact on people that the next day New York Times had it on their front-page headline, “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact”. People can be gullible, and will often believe whatever they hear. In the era of “fake news” and “post-truth” this verse is as important as ever. May we be like the noble Bereans who didn’t just receive the message from the apostle Paul with eagerness, but examined to see if it was true. “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”( Acts 17:11) God’s word is truth, let’s make sure we are using it!

Matt Greven