Ask any of my friends, you ask my sisters, you ask my husband – they’ll tell you I'm into beautiful sounds. Like, say, the sound of wind through the trees -- especially pine trees. I'll be sitting outside my front yard with some friends visiting… we’ll be standing there next to the big tall pines that border our yard… and across the street are Mr. Arquileviches’ pine trees, and a wind will come up, and my friend, Judy, will tell the others, "Joni loves that sound... wind whistling through a pine tree!" But it could be other sounds -- like a few birds in a tree, or the happy sound of a running brook, or that rumbling you hear in a waterfall, or a creek that babbles and splashes. I love happy sounds.
And I daresay they are virtually Christian sounds (okay, I know, sounds aren’t “Christian”), but if you read James 5:13-14 you’d almost think so. It says, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him... Is any one happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”
Did you get that? Don’t you love it? If anyone is happy, he should… sing! Look, joy is the natural outflow of a grateful heart – and that joy can’t help but overflow into song. The glad sound of singing – especially singing praises to God – that is what happiness sounds like. When you’re happy, friend, you gotta sing!
Now just follow with me a bit further here, because you know how Jesus says that out of us shall flow rivers of living water? Well, meditate on that a moment. If rivers of living water are indeed rushing out from us, it will “sound like something.” don’t you think? Because a rushing river has its own sound. Like a brook gurgles… or a creek ripples… or a river rushes… or a waterfall gushes… well, for the Christian out of whom flow rivers of living water, that Christian will have a certain distinctive sound: he’ll be a singing Christian. That’s his reverberation. That’s how he’ll resonate. Singing is what a happy Christian does – it is as innate to him, as gurgling is to a running brook. It’s as natural to the joyful believer as the rushing, joyful sound of a mountain creek. Again, James 5 reminds us, “Is anyone happy? Then let him sing!”
And, friend, the neat thing is, you don’t have to be a great singer. You could be tone deaf… not able to hold a note in a bucket. Look, I’ve heard my husband in the shower… he is way off pitch; but when he’s happy, he’s singing. So today – or on any day – if you’re happy and you know it, sing a song… sing a praise chorus… sing a hymn, old or new. Let that river of living water flow. Belt out your song… hum it in the car… whistle it down the hallway, because that’s the sound of a joyful Christian.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends