I’ve always been a fan of punk music. I share alot of their views on society, the government, not being afraid to
be yourself and obviously I love the way it sounds. I mention this because today on the way to work, I was listening to my music and singing along just like any other day. All of a sudden I was very aware of what I was singing along to. The lyric that got my attention was a single line in an otherwise awesome song. It simply said “God is not in us”.

Right after I sang those lyrics I stopped dead in my tracks, like someone just slapped me in the face. All of a sudden another set of lyrics from a different band came to mind that goes something like, “Heaven and hell are just a myth, so wake up you asshole and live in the moment.”

Why do I mention this?

There is a term called imaging, which refers to how anything that you expose yourself to affects you. It may not be notice it right away, and if it is, it can be easily dismissed.

Things in this world are either bringing us closer to God or pulling us away….there is no third direction, no standing still.

Then I couldn’t help but come to the realization that I was overlooking this anti-God sentiment that seems to be plaguing our country, because I love everything else that they talk about in their songs.

Suddenly the overwhelming sense of conviction washed over me. I had chosen the world over God.

I bring up this revelation about myself  to you guys for no other reason than the hopes that you will all remain aware that we do this everyday without even realizing it.

I had to make a decision to delete this music that I have loved since I was a kid off of my phone simply because they had dissed my Lord.

It may sound silly, but this walk we are all on is treacherous and we cannot make compromises on these types of things.

Now I cannot stress this fact enough that I do not tell you this story in the
hopes that you will think, “Oh look at him, look how good he’s doing obeying God.”By no means, I just want to share my shortcomings with all of you in the hopes that you will take this truth and delve into your own walk.

Psalms 139:23 says, “Search me O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts”.

David begs God to show him the areas in his life where he is falling short. The areas where he compromises his love for God with the love of himself and of the world. Ways he was not even aware of.

The battle is real, the repercussions of choosing anything but God are extremely real. So I urge all of you,
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12

We must remain vigilant, because none of us are immune.

Written by: Justin Ludwig