What Are You Listening To?

My husband, Joe, and I were spending the day cleaning house recently, when he put on some music we used to enjoy when we first met many years ago. When I heard it, I froze in my tracks. The lyrics were offensive to me, and I yelled at my husband, and demanded that he turn it off immediately. He was stunned. “You don’t like it?” he asked, incredulous. “I hate it, and I don’t ever want to hear it again!”

As I resumed my cleaning, the realization that I had loved that music in years past sickened me. How could I have listened to—and actually enjoyed—such dark, depressing, and degrading music? How it must have grieved the Lord’s heart when I devoted my attention to it the way I did. I began to hear the apostle Paul’s words in my head, saying, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8 NASB) Paul knew that what we listen to goes into our spirits and becomes part of us, often forever.

The simple truth is that we can’t “dwell on” the things of God, or the good things in life, if we are feeding and programming our hearts and minds with worldly thoughts and ideas. Filling ourselves wrongly will steal our peace and joy, and it will make it hard for us to hear God’s voice, and to receive from Him.

You and I have a high calling from God on our lives, and we can’t afford to compromise our walk with Him in the name of “entertainment”. Ask yourself today, “How serious am I about receiving God’s best?”

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