Psalm 100:1-2 – Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs.

When the first songs of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and the Comets became popular, many adults of that generation immediately dismissed the songs as fads and, worse still, the work of the devil. While this concept seems laughable today, early rock songs were viewed as pure evil and a terrible influence on youth. As popular music took hold, praise and worship songs composed around rock and pop rhythms began to surface and created a whole new controversy for the church — how can this "horrid" music be used to glorify God?

Let's step back and have a look at this. Most of the established hymns of the traditional church were either based on works by classical composers or traditional tunes such as "Greensleeves" that became the famous Christmas carol, "What Child is This". The music that comprises the bulk of our hymnbooks was composed in the 18th and 19th centuries, over 1500 years after the presence on this earth of our Saviour, who is the reason for the music.

Somewhere along the line, somebody composed music that changed the way we worship — be it the hymn writers of the last few centuries or the contemporary rock writers and performers of today. The point is that if the message of the music and the heart of the performer are clearly focused on glorifying God and Jesus, then the style is unimportant — what is important is that we spread the news of Jesus with passion and enthusiasm.

Make a joyful noise today — in any way that you want!

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for the precious gift of Your Son. We are so filled with praise that we need to show it in every way possible, and we are grateful to be free to show it however we feel comfortable. In Your great name, we pray. Amen.

1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (NIV)

"Here Comes the Sun" is one of the few major hits George Harrison contributed to the Beatles, but the song showed what a marvellous songwriter he is. This is a simple song of belief that better days are ahead, equating the emergence of spring and sunrises with an improved future. What a marvellous thought!

The use of the sun as a symbol of better times is nothing new. The ancient Egyptians revered the sun god more than any of their gods. It is like a symbol of renewal, the start of a new day in which everything is new and the possibilities are endless.

Now two thousand years ago, we had a sunrise like no other, when our Lord and Saviour came to this world and gave his life so that we could share in His kingdom. John is conveying the message of light in his first letter as Jesus Himself did when He was in this world — "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). But what John says in the first chapter of his first letter is startling. In verse 6, he says "God is light"; then in verse 7, "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another". We are not instructed to walk "with" the light, but "in" the light. It is not enough to try to be a buddy to God, walking along the street chatting about the weather and the baseball box scores from yesterday. We must become a full partner, walking in step, knowing each other intimately, like an absolute best friend.

That probably makes it sound easy, and most of us already know it is not. We have a chasm of sin that separates us from God, and the only way to get there is to make Jesus our best friend. The first step in making Jesus our best friend is confessing our sin to Him and getting close enough to walk in His light. As Christians, we know that Jesus died on the cross for us and conquered death, and that He will return again one day. So if we want to figure out whether or not we are trying to walk "in the light", the first question we should ask ourselves is, "Are we truly looking forward to the day when we can say, 'Here Comes the Son'?"

Prayer: – Father, thank You for sending Your Son to be the light of the world. Help us to walk in the paths that You want us to, and put ourselves into Your light. Amen.