The Bible commands Christians to redeem the time:

 

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16)

 

I have thought for a while about ways to use for the Lord in the best possible way the limited time we have on this earth to serve Him. For quite a while I have not spent any significant time reading news articles; to learn the news, I have cut and pasted articles, mainly from the “useful sources for news” section on my website, to keep up with what is going on.

 

In a recent article on my website, I wrote the following:

 

[I]f you do not spend serious time in Bible reading, study, memorization, meditation, and prayer daily, in order to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, along with being a serious servant in one of Christ’s true churches, then forget about [things like politics] … and forget about social media, YouTube, and other such unnecessary things until you repent and make seeking the kingdom of God your first priority (Matthew 6:33).

 

Wanting to actually put in practice what I am writing, I thought about whether the time I spent listening to news articles was the best use of my time.  I have as a life-goal to write a mutli-volume historic Baptist systematic theology. Would progress toward that goal, or study related to other writing projects, be a better use of time than keeping up with secular world events? Would spending more time memorizing or having Scripture read aloud be a better use of time?  Am I truly redeeming the time I spend listening to the news?

 

As a result, I determined to cut both reading and listening to the news out of my life–to take a “news fast” in August, as it were–and evaluate after the month was over if the time was being used more profitably.  The question is not whether there is profit in being aware of the news–perhaps comparable to the profit of bodily exercise, for a little time, 1 Timothy 4:8–but if it was as profitable as other things that are more specifically kingdom-related.  Indeed, since God is sovereign over the affairs of men, doing something more specifically kingdom-related may indeed even do more good in this world than would the knowledge gained from the news, as well as having promise of the life which is to come.

 

So how did it go? I have not missed knowing less of the news by using the time for other things that are more specifically kingdom-related.  Sometimes I have been curious, but I do not think I have missed that much.  It might be fine as well to know less contemporary news and have time to do something like listen through Churchill’s History of the English Speaking People or some other classic work that will help provide broader perspective on history. I am planning to prayerfully reevaluate now that the month is over in order to see what is the best way to proceed for the glory of God at this point.

 

The time many preachers of the gospel spend on the news, or watching various videos, if added up, could be time that would enable them to be fluent in both Greek and Hebrew, vastly sharpen their preaching and ministry skills, and lay up much treasure in heaven drawing near to Christ and ministering to the saints and the lost. And how about the use of time by ordinary church members?  We will have to give account for every one of our minutes at the judgment seat of Christ.

 

There is profit to knowing the news.  However, to repeat what I had affirmed earlier, please prayerfully consider the following:

 

[I]f you do not spend serious time in Bible reading, study, memorization, meditation, and prayer daily, in order to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, along with being a serious servant in one of Christ’s true churches, then forget about [things like politics] … and forget about social media, YouTube, and other such unnecessary things until you repent and make seeking the kingdom of God your first priority (Matthew 6:33).

 

If you do not seriously study Scripture and read the Word daily, forget about the news.  If you do not spend serious time in prayer, forget the news.  If you do not memorize Scripture, forget the news. If you do not set aside regular time for meditation–or you have, over the years, read thousands and thousands of pages of news but not even one book on meditating on Scripture–forget the news.  If you do not regularly preach the gospel to every creature and seek to make disciples, forget the news. If you do not have family devotions, forget the news. And what goes for the news goes for social media and other similar time-suckers on the Internet.

–TDR