During the 1940’s, a big part of my family’s life was the radio and often we would all gather around it to hear funny or thrilling radio programs, sports events, and of course, the up to the minute news. And then, there was the popular music of the day that was played day and night, one thing my older brothers and sisters loved. Recently, one of the most popular songs of that era came to mind. It’s title was : “Accentuate The Positive.” As I was thinking the other day of it’s lyric’s, my first thought was: “Wow, the message of that song may be just as relevant now, if not more, than in those war time years.” This is what it says in part: "You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, but don’t mess with Mr. In-between.”
To simplify the message, it was reminding folks back then to emphasize and focus more on positive things. Keep in mind that most Americans at the time were worried about the war and their family members who were in it. Even back then the song’s message was not really an original thought. God had said it first. Philippians 4:8 reads: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” If you’re like me, you are tired of hearing depressing news on a daily basis. Perhaps you hesitate to turn on the news, or have stopped altogether. We wish people everywhere would “eliminate the negative” talk that is dominating today’s conversations and start focusing on the positive things. Yes, even now, there are positive things that have arisen because of this ordeal. To “latch on to the affirmative” is to do exactly what verse advises, to focus only on the positive.
Finally, messing with “Mr. In-between”, in my opinion, is to be unstable in our faith, to have one foot in and one foot out or as Ephesians 4:14 says, to not know what we believe, to be easily persuaded by anything the world says, and forget God’s faithful promises. Just as sure as you are reading this blog today, good days and many celebrations are up ahead. Recently, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth reminded her people that they would soon be together with their family and friends again. When I heard those words, I said “Amen” because that is exactly what is going to happen. So, let’s look happily forward to that day.
