Listening in the Life of Jesus

Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
—Psalm 43:4

I believe that God reveals Himself to us in many different ways. Whether this be through the sacraments such as communion and baptism, through God's word, through His creation, or through the very act of giving praise to Him.

Through my whole life, I have been musically inclined and have found that in my time spent in praise is when Jesus reveals Himself to me. It is when I am worshipping Him that I feel closest to Him.

Growing up I had this concept of devotions. It was meant to be a time to reflect over our lives through the study of scripture. I had always believed that I should read my Bible every night for devotions. Though I know that God reveals Himself through scripture and that reading the Bible is a very good thing to do, I have found that devotions are about reflecting on your life through God. You see that while reading scripture is a way that God reveals Himself to us, it is certainly not the only way He does this. It is because of this that I have included worship into my own devotions. I encourage you to take God's method of revealing himself to you and to include it in your everyday devotions.

I would like to think that I try to live in such a way that my life reflects that of Jesus. That is in no way to say that I am perfect... far from it in fact. However, while we all make mistakes, I have found that for me, when I incorporate praise into my everyday life, I start to live a life that is more like the life of Jesus. I treat others with greater respect, I am more forgiving and patient with others, everyday temptations become easier to avoid, and I gain a feeling of greater self-respect.

To take this to practical life, I have started by simply playing Christian or God-centered music in my car while I drive to school and work and other places. It sounds so simple but I can tell that it has made a huge difference in my life and can now realize the adverse effects when I put in an ordinary alternative CD. It is incredible the difference it has made in my own life.

I encourage everyone to make small changes in your own lives so that we could live as examples of Christ to the world around us.