Music.
More and more I’m realizing that the life of a musician is different and difficult. Maybe I’m making excuses for myself, but I just can’t sit behind a cubicle and do the 9-5. I can’t go out and sell cases of life insurance, even if it pays big money. All I can do is write songs out of nothing and hope that people will be moved by it.
The most mind-blowing thought to me is that people would pay money for music. If you think about it, there is nothing that you gain out of listening to any song except for the sheer enjoyment of listening to it. There is nothing that a song can offer you except an appreciation for its beauty. It can’t give you a more toned body. It can’t feed you. It is not a means to an end, but an end in itself.
How I wish that christians today would know this truth about God. We can’t use God for the sake of getting things we want. We can’t do things for God and expect Him to “pay us back” as if He owed us anything. I can’t do my quiet times or pray for a half hour just because I want to have a good day today. The joy of knowing the Lord is an end in itself!
And although listening to music can’t give me a more toned body, it can certainly inspire me to! (my favorite workout song) Although music can’t make me full, it can inspire a nation to donate money and food to the poor.
How much more then should God, our song and our salvation, inspire us to do our quiet times? To do good works? To spread His name?
Maybe God created music so we can have a wonderful example of being moved by the sheer beauty of a melody to make a difference. Or maybe God created music so we could know that the Gospel is the most beautiful song our souls can sing.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2
