Don't Let Music Become an Idol.

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Exodus 20:4-6
“You shall have no other gods besides me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

My goal here is not to get the words, And Their Children stuck in your head. But think about this commandment and realize how much more we struggle with it than we admit.

It is easy to say that we haven’t created an image or bowed to anything. It is however not uncommon to put plenty of things before God and treat them with more respect than anything else.

I talk about music and as such, that is my example, I do not think it is uncommon to sing with the radio without realizing the words we sing (part of the reason for this project). We can even have favorite songs without understanding the words and as we continue to love those songs we place them higher and with more authority in our lives. We find ourselves singing about sex and drugs to the point of praising those things. Praising them in place of God.

What about church music? When you think about church music, what is your preference? How important to you is that preference? Do you think of other music as inferior? Are you at a point where you have come to only worship at a service with your music? Have you gotten so wrapped up in the music that you have turned it into an idol?

This sounds extreme but is a very easy trap to fall into. Because of this, we need to be aware of it and make sure we are attending church for the right reasons.

God works in many different ways. Who are we to say there is only one way to worship Him?

Psalm 150:1-6
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Challenge yourself, go to the service you think lesser of. Do not get distracted by the parts you don’t like. But rather, enjoy hearing God’s Word and learning from it.


 

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