1 Chronicles 25-27

"All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres, and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the supervision of the king. Along with their relatives–all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD–they numbered 288. Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties."

David is appointing people responsible for the music at the house of God. There were 288 skilled musicians and they were all under God's supervision, because David looked to God for supervision.

This passage made me ponder about music and the role it plays in our lives.

It wasn't until recently that I realized the potential harm secular music may have in lives. I never thought secular music was a huge deal. I mean, like any other entertainment, there's so much range from the obviously evil to the friendly and tame. What can possibly be harmful about the oldies? I remember that I used to get upset when certain elders from the church I grew up in would get legalistic about certain secular music. Rap, rock, and electronic musics are bad. Classical is good. Hm... think I'd still get upset, if was to hear that today. Anyways...

I think they missed the point about music.

I wrote a few blogs back that when we encourage each other in the Lord, what we are really doing is just to change each other's focus away from ourselves unto God. Because we know that when our eyes are not focused on God, that is when we veer off away form the light and into the dark. And when that happens, we are so easily tempted...

I believe it's foolish for Christians to say that secular music or any other forms of entertainment do not have the potential to effect us. But this is a personal matter. We can't be labeling certain things as good and others as bad. It'll be endless. As Christians, we need to come before God and be very honest about ourselves. When I listen to this music that I like, does it cause me to lose focus on God? What about watching this movie? TV show? Youtube video? Browsing this website? Reading this book or magazine? The list goes on.

I've experienced way too many times how Devil can use something I thought was completely harmless and use it to veer me away from God. Again, it's not a matter of something being good or bad. It can be anythings. It can even be a worship song, if your heart is not in the right place.

This is a very challenging thing for most of us, because music, movies, and TV shows are a huge factor in what defines us. In social networking sites, those are things we can list, and in a way, they make us who we are. This is how we often connect with other people.

But let's be reminded this day that above all things, it is Jesus that define us. We are nothing without him (do we believe that?), and all the good and perfect gifts in our lives are from him. He loves us. Let's not be afraid to allow God to examine our lives and point out things that we need to let go. Whatever they may be, in the long run, they are not worth us being away from the presence of the Lord.

Oh, and since this post is about music, we should definitely worship and praise God more often together :)