9/14 Ephesians 5:19-20

¹⁹ . . . addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .

The Christian faith is a singing faith. It makes full use of God's gift of music. I can't understand why any believer would constantly listen to secular music. We have so many Christian songs of every flavor that declare what God has done and is doing in us. They express our heart of praise, confession, adoration, and supplication to God. Most worldly songs are about lust or depression.

Paul was telling the Ephesians to start addressing one another with the words of those songs. How about walking up to a fellow believer, and instead of saying the typical, "How are you?" instead try greeting them with, "Great is God's faithfulness!" or whatever song is filling your heart. We'd have to first allow songs of praise to fill our hearts so that it wouldn't become just another routine expression. And that brings us to the next verse.

We should always be giving thanks to God for everything. No exceptions are given. That is because we know everything will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). Even the difficult things help us develop character and build our faith in our all-powerful, loving God. The Lord has challenged me with the simple expression, "Always praise!" If we murmur or complain, we are expressing doubt. Replace that attitude with a song of trust in God's goodness and watch your attitude change.

Consider: Think of the enormous difference it would make in our daily joy if we would just live these two verses.