What Would You Do

I was listening to my IPod as I was cleaning the refrigerator this afternoon. I have quite a few cd's that have been saved to it, ranging from Gospel to Country to 50's and 60's Rock and Roll, along with quite a few podcasts from my favorite podcasters from SQPN.

I have probably heard those songs hundreds of times. Every time I am in the kitchen, I hit play. Sometimes I just play music. Other times, I listen to podcasts. Occasionally, I start at "A" and let them all play in alphabetical order.

Today, I started the music in the "W" section, with Waitin on a Woman, sung by Brad Paisley. It is one of my favorite songs. It is about an older man commiserating with a younger man about the joys of waiting for the woman of their life. It reminds me of Dave's grandparents, for some reason, even though I highly doubt Grandpa would have spoken about Grandma that way. I think it is because the lyrics portray a very real, very deep, very lasting love, that began in the morning of their lives and was now nearing the sunset.

What Would You Do (If Jesus Came to Your House) is the title of a song sung by Porter Wagoner. Obviously, in alphabetical order, it isn't that far behind Waitin on a Woman. Today it really caught my ear. The song runs through some scenarios of how people could or would react if Jesus showed up, knocking on their door one night.

The lyrics ask some tough questions about how you live and how acceptable it would be if Jesus actually did show up at dinnertime. Would you have to dig out your Bible? Would you need to change your normal dinner time conversation? Would it be hard to remember to say grace before the meal? And, possibly hardest of all, would you want Him to stay forever or would you feel a sense of relief when the door closed with Him on the other side?

So often, music is background noise, but there are definitely some valuable messages that can be learned when I truly listen. I don't see those positive messages quite so often in more modern music, but they are still there. The older country/gospel songs, though, have plenty of food for thoughts.

For tonight I will have to consider what I would do if Jesus knocked.