Christians Don't Tell Lies,

They sing them.

Last weekend was disciple now at Western Heights, and a lot of learning happened for me. More writing may come of that, but for now I want to talk about one song in particular that stuck out to me and what I learned from it.

It all starts with a quote that I heard about a year ago. It goes, "Christians don't tell lies, they sing them." Ever since the day I first heard that, I started looking deeper into songs. I have a strong tendency to just sing songs, on auto-pilot so to speak, and not even think about the words. Sometimes I can get to the end of a song and realize I have no clue what I just sang or what it meant (yeah... I know. It's pretty bad). This should not be!
So this weekend I found myself doing the same thing. Zoning out, thinking about the notes being sung and instruments being played, etc. But then the words caught my attention. The go like this:

I'm giving you my heart, all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you, my King.

I'm giving you my dreams, laying down my rights;
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life

I'm sing you this song, I'm waiting at the cross
All the world holds dear, I count it all as loss

For the sake of knowing You, for the glory of Your Name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in your pain

I surrender all to you.

What first stuck out to me was the line that says "I'm giving up my dreams, laying down my rights." And I realized that I was just breezing through this song. But really I shouldn't sing those words without considering, "Okay, so what are my dreams?" and "what are my 'rights', and now that I have established those things, "am I truly willing to give those things up?"
See, these things that I consider to be my dreams are good. And I don't think that God would necessarily hold all of them back from me. However, I think my desires should be for His Kingdom before the dreams. Not the dreams before His Kingdom. So, having a husband and children of my own, living in a safe area, living near family and friends. These are all good things. Great blessings, truly. But would I be obedient if Christ called me to dropped any of those things?
See, that's what I had to consider while singing that song. And the answer is: my flesh says no. But tear my flesh away. I may be weak, but my God is strong in me.

Basically the same thing applies to the rest of the lyrics. What a prayer.

Well, I have more thoughts, but it's way WAY late. so.... more to come! :)