A friend invited me to attend a concert by Casting Crowns. It meant leaving work early, expenses I didn’t know if I had, stepping out of my rut, my sweet (and willing) husband getting the kids, feeding them and getting them to bed without me (which he’s fully capable of and does plenty of times, but….ugh, momma responsibilities and all).
By the day of the event, I was in a dour mood and had an insurmountable amount of ‘to-dos’ on my personal To Do list…I was wasting my time, I needed to stay home, I needed every waking minute to work on so much…I nearly cancelled. (But I’m not a quitter). So I tried to convince myself that I would just fit this experience in with everything else like Super Woman. The lights dimmed….and my life was never the same.
If you have never gone to a concert by Casting Crowns or I am They (who opened for them that night) I would STRONGLY encourage you to. Life Changing. Pure Worship and great music.
I was standing, hands clasped before me with tears streaming down my face as the song “Only Jesus” played. I realized then that it the Enemy had been working so hard to talk me out of attending this concert with the usual ‘too busy/too important’ lie. (Ok, not a lie…I HAD BEEN too busy.) But this song spelled. it. out. What was wrong. With me. It had all been about me. When the truth is. It’s ALL about Jesus.
Look at King Solomon in the Bible. I doubt as there was or has been such a successful young king as Solomon…because he sought the will of God. He was richly blessed and was adored, his wisdom and favor was sought from many neighboring and even far-away kingdoms. His writings live on in the Biblical book, Proverbs. He also wrote the book Ecclesiastes, right after Proverbs. And almost every person knows or has heard of these verses from this very man (there’s even songs been written).
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace….. He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11
And yet the beginning verses of the book of Ecclesiastes the author writes ‘”Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. ‘Utterly Meaningless! Everything is Meaningless!'”
What if we started our days at home, at work, at play…with ‘Only Jesus.’ Personally I think this song is one of the most challenging songs in our Christian culture today.
The words ‘I’ and ‘my’ get thrown around a LOT. I am too tired…and to give up the oh-so-seemingly-secure grasp on MY identity, on MY accomplishments, on MY family, on MY church school…what ever would I do if I gave them all to Jesus and THEY WEREN’T AS IMPORTANT TO HIM AS THEY ARE ME??? *gasp*
God cares. (https://thebrokenmandolin.com/small-things/). But God is God. Read the Bible. It’s all about Jesus. (https://thebrokenmandolin.com/change/). And He promises that he wants good for our lives.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plan to give you a hope and a future.'”
Jeremiah 29:11
But make no mistake; that good He does in our lives, the good which makes us smile and breathe a ‘thank you God’ is FOR HIS GLORY.
Those in my church are familiar with me saying ‘listen to the words…..they’re so amazing.’ So…listen to this song again….listen to (and in this case you can read) the words. Join me in making a daily promise to let go of our meaningless ‘name’ that we have worked so hard for, and to allow it to be always “Only Jesus.”
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXIBP2BdYR8 Only Jesus”
