This morning as I’m browsing the Apple website and wondering whether I’ll break the new Mac Book Air simply by opening it, I noticed the following heading – “Ipod Your Life”. If you click on the link, Apple suggests a host of ways you can integrate your ipod into every hour of the day – work, home, workout, and more. The marketing folks at Apple are on to something here. Music has a powerful effect on our mind, will and affections. In essence, they’re marketing the ipod as the ultimate customizable companion. Your music. Your way. However you like it. All the time. Could you imagine a better friend?
Proverbs 13:20 reminds us, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” It’s helpful to evaluate the music we listen to much like the friends we spend time with. Music in and of itself is morally neutral. But the lyrics, mental associations or emotional impact of a particular song is not. Whenever we plug in those headphones or pipe a playlist through the car stereo, we may be walking with the wise or making friends with fools. We do well to consider if the music we’re listening to, the company we keep, is encouraging us in our walk with God or dulling our affections and desires for Him.
If you’re looking for music that will inspire great thoughts of God, check out the Book Shoppe on Sunday. We’ve recently added several new CDs, including Keith & Kristin Getty’s “In Christ Alone” and Passion’s “Hymns Ancient & Modern.” The version of “On Christ the Solid Rock” we sang last Sunday came from the Passion CD and there are several other tracks on the album we’ve sung as a church, including “Praise to the Lord the Almighty” and “How Great Thou Art”. The folks at Passion do an outstanding job taking solid, biblical lyrics from older hymns and rearranging them with newer music. Walk with the wise and check out their CD!
- Matthew
Thank you Matthew for the reminder. And thank you also for being an example of what that looks like.
Mr. Matthew,
This morning me and my mom were talking about wisely picking the friends we hang out with and the effect that has on our lives. During our talk my mom told me about your blog. As I read it I thought it was neat how you compared music we listen to, to friends we hang out with. It really helped me understand better about wisely choosing the friends God has for us. Thanks so much for taking the time to write that.