A dear friend of mine named Vernon Bauer, a retired missionary to Colombia and a masterful theologian, preached a sermon once on the benefit of music in our daily Christian walk. Needless to say, I was intrigued. The point that he made was to plant a song in your mind to call upon when temptation or hardships come along. In the years since, this has manifested itself to me in varying ways, but it’s always helped me to keep focused on Jesus when trials pop up as they commonly do.
Some of the songs that the Lord gave me were the old hymn In Christ Alone, Jason Upton’s Dying Star, and most recently Relient K’s Life After Death & Taxes. That last one may seem like a strange one, but as I listened to album Mmhmm again the other day the chorus struck a chord with me. It’s the only song I’ve found that embodies how I feel, and encourages me to live the life that I really want to have deep down (even when my flesh and others around think I’m crazy for it). The chorus goes:
This is how I choose to live
As if I’m jumping off a cliff
Knowing that You’ll save me
Knowing that You’ll save meAnd after all the stupid things I did
There’s nothing left now to forgive
Because You already forgave me
Yeah You already for gave me
I just wanted to share it with you all, and to encourage you to find a song or songs that redirects your heart and mind toward Jesus when the going gets tough.
Ancient Abandon 