by Trisha Lopez

Your love is like a river
Peaceful and deep
Your soul is like a secret
That I never could keep
When I look into your eyes
I know that it’s true
God must have spent
A little more time on you

That’s the chorus of a song that I used to enjoy listening to. I thought it to be very sweet. But did you notice something wrong with the concept it has? Took me some time, but one day, as I listened, I realized it. The first few verses describe love and how beautiful it is, but when you come to the last three verses, that’s where we are easily deceived. ‘God must’ve spent a little more time on you’ is the way the song writer expresses how this girl is the one, his Miss Right, the one who is beautiful inside and out, the one who seems so perfect that the only way he can justify why she is so different from everyone else is because God spent a little more time on her. As much as this is a sweet compliment, it’s actually the opposite of the truth.

Yes, the truth is, in order to prepare ourselves to be so different that the world sees our light, we need to spend a little more time (a lot more actually) on God. This made me realize how easily we can be deceived into believing what we see and hear. What we allow ourselves to be ex posed to is something we need to truly be careful about.

I used to be a person who listened to songs for the sake of enjoying the music and the vibes it had. However, one thing I failed to see was how you are subconsciously affected by those words. Where do you think all the wrong concepts of love and what it’s like came from? Whatever it is that goes on in your mind, it came from your ears and eyes. When we look at our daily lives, how much time are we using for God? Do we allocate a certain amount of time daily to just ‘Be still and know that I am God’ (Psa 46:10).

The best would be first thing in the morning, do we say a prayer like the psalmist did? (Psa 5:3) Do you thank Him for all the little things? Start your day right, and the change that comes along will be significant. There’s no better way to put it: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” Proverbs 31:30. Choosing to fear the Lord is a wise choice (Prov 15:33). This fear refers to a fear in reverence. It leads you to be determined to respect God. It helps you prioritize Him as the number one in life. It moves you to action; to seek knowledge and have that desire to learn. In our pursuit to become a better person each day, one
attitude that we should have on check on a daily basis is the fear of the Lord. All the excuses one can make for not being able to fulfil a certain responsibility required of a Christian will not make its way out of the mouth when one truly learns to fear the Lord. This will help an individual to be so different from everyone else in the way they do things, the way they carry themselves, and the way they prioritize things. We all want to be different from the world, as Paul commands us to be in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Let us be careful not to be easily deceived by the devil as we strive to be different. Be careful of what you listen to and what you watch. In all that you do, you ought to glorify God. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever
you do, do all to the glory of God” 1 Corinthians 10:31. It’s interesting to note that the context of this verse in 1 Corinthians is talking about one’s conscience. The idea is to not just to do what you like, but to be aware of the
conscience of the people around you. When your song selection has a misleading meaning behind it, although to you, you are just enjoying the tune, what about the person listening with you? Can they see your Christian
light shining in any way? In all that you are doing, there are eyes watching. Don’t let your carelessness stop the lost one from seeing the light.

In conclusion, we ought to remember that although we live in the world, we are not of the world. We need to bear in mind that we will be held accountable for the way we choose to live. In all that we do, we are influencing another person along the way. Let us strive to be like Jesus, our perfect example, so that when we do influence people, knowingly or unknowingly, we are guiding them down the right path, and God-willing toward the hope of eternal life. My beloved brethren, do not be easily deceived, be intentional in all that you do.