Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Music, Faith, and Hope

Everyone has their favorite type of music.  Everyone also has other kinds of music that you can tolerate, and then there are the kinds that you really don't care for.  Sometimes these come up in surprising mixes, but overall, I would dare say that we each have a fairly unique set of musical preferences.  We may stray from them from time to time, but overall, our preferences tend to stay pretty consistent.

Music speaks to us, in some way, far deeper than mere words.  I honestly don't know what it is about music, but when you add notes to words, it stirs something up inside of us.  It moves us.  It seems to reach deeper into places that we may not have expected.  Music reaches in and stirs up the soul, which seems to give greater life to the words that are attached to those notes.

The Bible celebrates music.  True, music is not the message of Good News from God.  Music is one of the creation gifts that God gives.  Music doesn't make us right with God, but is something God has given us for the enjoyment and enhancement of life.  And so, when that gift is connected with the saving word of God in the Good News, it becomes a gift of creation that also speaks into eternity.

The number of musical expressions of God's word seem limitless.  Sometimes the music is faster, and other times slower.  Sometimes it consists of longer ballads, and sometimes shorter repetitions.  Sometimes it extols God, and at other times, it whispers prayers from the depths of our souls.  But when that word of God is attached to those notes, we find the convergence of our souls being stirred while being connected to the redeeming God.

The next time you are listening to your favorite music, think about why it seems to touch you the way it does.  How can that same music be added to God's Word to truly move your soul and connect you to Christ?  You might be surprised at just how powerful God can answer that question and stir your soul as He delivers His hope and salvation to you.

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