Last week, I did something I had never done before. No, it wasn’t skydiving, eating swordfish, observing sharks in a cage underwater, camping in the snow, or any other activity that makes little sense to me.
What did I do what was so unusual for me? I went through my iTunes library and deleted about 50+ songs from my hard drive. Considering that a lot of those were bought online, yikes, I might as well have thrown a handful of dollar bills to the wind.
As those closest to me know, I recently became a Christian. And yeah, I know, how many times can a person “get saved” before it is legit, right? I’ve wondered that myself throughout my life, what an irony that I was one such case. I came to realize, wow. These things that characterize a Christian, that define a person who follows after God in holiness…these things are nowhere to be found in my life. All I showed was a clever imitation. But God changed my heart much, and brought me to repentance. Now, I know that what results from repentance and a change in heart is a change in my lifestyle, reflecting this. There should be no doubt Who I belong to.
Any music that could be labeled “questionable” got deleted. Ciara, Rihanna, Usher, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Christina Aguilera, and yes, even the infamous Justin Timberlake, to name just a few.
I was reminded earlier today of a message I heard at church a few weeks back, in which my brother-in-law, Bobby, brought up Psalm 119. I have started reading this Psalm, by the way, and wow. I want to learn to live like that! Verse 37 states (in the NIV and NASB versions combined),
“Turn my eyes away from worthless things, and revive me according to your ways.”
And remembering what Bobby talked about, keeping that music I had, well, it could easily be characterized as “worthless”. All it talks about is how to “get it”, how to “keep it”, and how to get back at whoever hurt you when you when something goes wrong. Looking back at it, those songs are all so lame! I encourage you, if you need to clean out your music, or any media, for that matter, do it. If something in your life can be characterized as spiritually worthless, what good will it do you to hold on to it? Let it go, and focus on all that matters, all that satisfies. Be revived, and be obedient. Otherwise life is nothing more than a clever imitation of what it could be.
What did I do what was so unusual for me? I went through my iTunes library and deleted about 50+ songs from my hard drive. Considering that a lot of those were bought online, yikes, I might as well have thrown a handful of dollar bills to the wind.
As those closest to me know, I recently became a Christian. And yeah, I know, how many times can a person “get saved” before it is legit, right? I’ve wondered that myself throughout my life, what an irony that I was one such case. I came to realize, wow. These things that characterize a Christian, that define a person who follows after God in holiness…these things are nowhere to be found in my life. All I showed was a clever imitation. But God changed my heart much, and brought me to repentance. Now, I know that what results from repentance and a change in heart is a change in my lifestyle, reflecting this. There should be no doubt Who I belong to.
Any music that could be labeled “questionable” got deleted. Ciara, Rihanna, Usher, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Christina Aguilera, and yes, even the infamous Justin Timberlake, to name just a few.
I was reminded earlier today of a message I heard at church a few weeks back, in which my brother-in-law, Bobby, brought up Psalm 119. I have started reading this Psalm, by the way, and wow. I want to learn to live like that! Verse 37 states (in the NIV and NASB versions combined),
“Turn my eyes away from worthless things, and revive me according to your ways.”
And remembering what Bobby talked about, keeping that music I had, well, it could easily be characterized as “worthless”. All it talks about is how to “get it”, how to “keep it”, and how to get back at whoever hurt you when you when something goes wrong. Looking back at it, those songs are all so lame! I encourage you, if you need to clean out your music, or any media, for that matter, do it. If something in your life can be characterized as spiritually worthless, what good will it do you to hold on to it? Let it go, and focus on all that matters, all that satisfies. Be revived, and be obedient. Otherwise life is nothing more than a clever imitation of what it could be.
1 comment:
Monica, this is super encouraging! I know when I became a Christian, I did the same thing with my secular music! I realized how much garbage I was absorbing that God didn't want there. It was time to seriously change. I'm excited to hear of your continuing change and obedience to God's calling for revival. It's always encouraging to read up on the faithfulness of other belivers. Great job on the blog!!!
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