Melodic Mondays
Those of you who know me know that I love music even though I am not musical myself. I listen to good music as often as I can. It is beneficial to the brain, valuable to the vocabulary, and strengthening to the soul. Isaiah 12:2-3 is a lovely passage that includes this soaring statement of surety: “The Lord JEHOVAH [YAHWEH] is my strength and my song.” This could be translated, “God is my mountaintop and my music.” Yes, He is! Each Monday, I want to study this subject and suggest a song to listen to. Anyone reading this devotional has easy access to any song. (I am an exception because I do not go on a computer or other information device.) If you do not like my suggestion (and we all have different tastes), you can think of or search for one that speaks to you. Then, it can become a source of encouragement throughout the week.
John 14:2 is a blessedly familiar verse: “In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Some quibble about the translation “mansions” (the original Greek means “dwelling places”), but we all know that whatever Jesus is preparing for us must be good and grand. Even a hovel in heaven would be a great place to be, but a hovel in heaven would not be a hovel! Generations of Christians have found inspiration in these words of Jesus, and some have written songs like “Mansions for Me,” by Bill Monroe, who recorded it in 1946. The version by the Stanley Brothers is also a good rendition of this bluegrass gospel song.