Nothing beats the start of a new year. For the first month it's a bit surreal and we're going to keep making the mistake of putting 13 instead of 14 at the end of dates. The question on most people's mind is what will the new year bring? What will change? What will remain? What new laws will come into play or which longtime ones will be pushed away? These are questions almost every person asks between the final weeks of December and January.
What will God in culture be like this time?
About a year ago I discovered the band BarlowGirl. If you don't know, they were a Christian rock band from 2000 to 2012. Their final song was 'Hope Will Lead Us On.' They have plenty of fantastic songs, such as 'Song for the Broken' and 'Sweet Revenge.' My personal favorite however is 'Come Alive.' It's not one of their more popular ones, but I think it's one of the most significant. The final part is where it most speaks to me, it's a notable change in tone from the rest of the song and is pretty powerful.
'We' refers to Christians. Sometimes it's easy to forget that we are the movement in this world. We are the ones with fire for the Lord Jesus Christ. When one becomes a Christian, their mindset changes. They realize there's a greater purpose which all Christians share. However, as their life goes on it can be easy to forget sometimes. If we go day in and day out without striving to be loving and nice, are we no better than people who don't go the extra mile and help others? Even the smallest of things can make a difference. In today's social media age, simply re-tweeting a Bible verse on Twitter can mean something.We are the passion.
We are the movement.
We are the Fire
Recently in college I've been studying various traits on life purpose. This week I came across the term 'passion.' These past few years I thought I had a good definition of the word. But after reading and studying, I have a new-found definition. I've always said I had a passion for Godzilla. But passion is something that goes deeper than hobbies. It involves action and suffering. Now that's not to say every career with passion will involve suffering, it's just that it very well could. Passion means that you are willing to die for the cause. Is Godzilla, Marvel Comics, or Super Mario worth dying for? Of course not!
All Christians share a primary passion, and that's to be like Jesus and to share the Good News. That's when things branch out into specifics. One might have a passion working with kids, youth, feeding the hungry, or preaching in front of a large audience. Sharing the passion of Jesus, that's worth dying for. That is what passion is.
In whatever you do this year, it's most glorying to do it with love, as it states in 1 Corinthians 16:14. But most of all, if you haven't already, it's time to
COME ALIVE
It's definitely true that words can be used a little too lightly. It's like when there's a character that you don't like. It's a little extreme to say that you "hate" the character since it's all still fictional. You may dislike the character, but that's different. Even if the person was real, the Bible does teach us not to hate even when it can be hard not too.
ReplyDeleteFor Christian rock songs, I like You Are I Am (Forgot the band) and basically any song from Petra. (I think that might be how they're spelled) Solid article Destroyer and I guess that I'll check that band out. Should be fun!