Be Thou My Vision

I wouldn't call myself a hymn guy. Personally, I prefer modern worship songs. That being said, I do have a soft spot for hymns. Especially when you put a modern twist on it.

My favourite hymn is Be Thou My Vision. Originally, it was an Irish folk song. You can hear a bit of that history in the overall sound/ composition.

I know and love this song. However, I feel like I just heard it for the first time recently.

We sang it at church on Sunday. It wrecked me. I don't know how else to describe it.

I'm a big advocate of meaning what you sing in Church. If you don't want to surrender your whole life, singing "I surrender all" probably isn't the most sincere thing you can do!

During practice I was hit with this line - 

Verse 3 

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise; 

Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise... is that true?

I hate to admit it, but I don't think it is for me to the level I believed it to be.

Riches and praise are tangible. They can be measured. Success can come through awards, critical acclaim or wealth. None of those things are inherently wrong, but to strive for them is.

To make God your main focus is hard. There's not a goal you can set. There's no tangible standard or evidence for it. Depending, there may not even be any earthly reward. However, as Christians, it's what we're called to do. It's what I am called to do. To daily take up my cross and follow him. That's hard.

I did sing the song on Sunday. However, not as a statement of my frame of mind or how great at being a Christian I am. I sang it as a prayer. A prayer that one day I would be able to say that line without any hesitation. That I could sing it without a shadow of a doubt that that is who I am. Someone who seeks God before praise, wealth or anything else this world has to offer.

Being A Good Friend

I love going to church. I love the worship, the sermon, the fellowship before and after. LOVE IT! That being said there are some days where it just doesn't click. You can ask me 30 seconds after the sermon ends what it was about... I couldn't tell you to save my life! It's not that I don't pay attention, I guess it just doesn't hit me.

This Sunday wasn't one of those sermons!

I was visiting a local church. The pastor was speaking on 1 Samuel. Talking about the friendship between Jonathan and David. 

It's changed the way I see them.

I always saw them as being good friends, but I never considered what that looked like.

In 1 Samuel 23:17 we seen a distressed David. Saul is trying to kill him. Jonathan (Saul's son) is there, trying to bring him some comfort.

What does he do? He reminds David of God's promise. David will be king. He could've given a generic "it'll all work out." He didn't though. Instead he talked to David where he was at.

That was the first thing that hit me.

The second was how Jonathan really is the hero of the story. He's there for David while his father is trying to kill him. Not only that, he's stepping aside so that David can be king. Jonathan is basically giving up his birth right. He's following God's plan even though it is going to cost him everything.

I wonder if I would do that. Would I be willing to lay my reputation, financial security or even life on the line for a friend if God asked me to? I'd like to think so. But thinking and doing are two very different things!

That's what I'm thinking about today. I'll likely be thinking about it for a while. It's inspired me to rethink how I treat friendships. How we as the body of Christ should look. Hopefully it does the same for you!