"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." (clap, clap) "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." (clap, clap) "Rejoice, Rejoice, Again I say rejoice. Rejoice, Rejoice, Again I say rejoice." I loved singing those words as a kid because we did it in a round. Truth is I didn't enjoy the song because of the message or because I knew what it meant to rejoice in the Lord. I enjoyed it because of the way we sung it.
As I watch the worship wars in churches, I wonder how many are focused on the way a song is sung, the style, rhythm, beat, harmony, etc. It reminds me of the old American Bandstand show with Dick Clark. He'd introduce a new song and then have two people from the audience rate the song. "It has a good beat," or "I can dance to that," were familiar answers.
Sometimes I think we miss the point of corporate worship. We're more in love with our style of worship music than we are the Savior. We rejoice in the music instead of the Lord. Paul exhorts us to rejoice in the Lord. Music is a catalyst for mood and attitude, but it doesn't change your life, only Jesus through the Holy Spirit can do that.
What would our life be like if we were plugged into Jesus like we were our ipods, mp3's, itunes, etc. What would our daily attitude be like if each day we rose from our slumber and began rejoicing in the Lord, pursuing Him, celebrating our relationship with Him. What if we went through each day plugged into Jesus, listening to Him, relying on Him, consulting Him. Paul knew how to rejoice in the Lord. No wonder he could say he had learned to be content in all circumstances and could sing praise in prison at midnight.
God, I don't want to just know about you. I want to learn to really rejoice in you; to really celebrate you in my life. I want to be able to say truly that the joy of the Lord is my strength. I want face each day rejoicing in you no matter what it brings.
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