-1 John 4:12 (NRSV)
This week, I'm going to make a conscious effort to dig into the Word. This is something that I, admittedly, do not do often enough. In fact, I hardly ever read my bible unless I'm teaching a class or looking for some spur-of-the-moment encouragement. Then, I wonder why God isn't working in me and through me. I believe that His Word is part of how the Christian grows and lives, yet I'm not making it a detrimental part of who I am in Christ.
So, over the next few blogs, I'm going to try and make some exegesis of 1 John. And, because this is essentially a music blog, I will try and apply some musical expression to it as well.
So, I came by the above verse today in my "email devotional" that I get every morning (which I don't often read) and was struck by the thought that God's love is "perfected" in me. I thought to myself, "how is God's love being perfected in me... someone who doesn't read His Word much or even pray as often as I could? Are my own actions, personalities, and words the kind that would be portraying Christ's love?" Well, these are all questions we all must ask ourselves. When/If we cannot show or explain who God is through some sort of physical or tanbigle way, then we are told that we become that expression of God's love. We are tangible. We are God's physical expressions of love. This is both challenging and exciting. Challenging because it means we have to constantly be aware of who we are in Christ, yet exciting because we are able to put God's love in corporeal form for others to sense, if not understand.
I think of some guitar players and musicians who put love into their instrument; love that we can't quite understand until we hear them play. Moreover, see and feel them play....
John Mayer, for example, may be chalk-full of himself, but when he plays guitar, you see how much he loves his instrument it in every lick, riff, and screwed-up faical expression he makes.
Bono, as another example, is an entertainer but holds such a passion when and how he sings. I have yet to "feel" the energy he brings to a live crowd, but I can feel it even through the DVDs I own.
Stevie Wonder's face may be 1/3 hidden from big black glasses, buy the way he slaps the keyboard, sways to the groove, and sings his heart out everytime, you know he loves what he's doing and wants to prove it to you.
What about you?
Are you conscious of the "God's love" you're always displaying?
Can you think of any other musicians that show their love in their music?
How do you show God's love frokm your own life?
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