Where can I go? Where can I run from you?
You're everywhere.
You know all my thoughts. You see through my ways
And still you come to me.
So I'll sing a love song to you.
So I'll sing a love song to you. ...
You walk on waves, you run with clouds,
You paint the sky for me to see
Your majesty, your majesty is why I sing.
This is a love song to you.
This is a love song to you.
My life's a love song to you.
My life's a love song to you.
My life's a love song.
I was just listening to this and thinking about what it really means in my everyday life. It's funny, as a child and as a teenager, I sort of always thought I would be a missionary or a youth minister or some other "professional" ministry position. About a month ago, my pastor, Jon, talked about how silly it is to think that the people that are paid to do God's work are the only professional ministers. In fact, as Christians, he said, we all are professional ministers.
It's really easy to think that I'm only doing God's work when I'm volunteering at the church's food pantry or leading worship or running sound, and I think that makes it very easy to get caught up in a horrible system of performance-based grace. The thought behind it, of course, is "If I'm good enough, God will love me more."
The great thing, and the thing I so easily forget, is that God could never love me more, because he loves me perfectly right now. He doesn't want me to beat my head against the wall trying to earn the love he's already given me.
What he wants from me is to live my humdrum, everyday life as a love song. Not just the times when I'm "serving." I have a chance to serve him every single day by doing excellent work when I'm at my job, by choosing love over holding a grudge with my fiance, even by taking proper care of my pets, my apartment and my belongings.
God wants me to be a good steward of the things he's given me, and that goes to more than just physical belongings. It extends to my friendships and my family. And, yes, my time.
I fail at this so often. I fight with Bobby. I take people for granted. I don't clean my cat's litter box often enough. But the thing I have to remember is that God's love for me still doesn't change, even through all this. That's what allows me to keep going, to pick up the pieces when things fall apart, to try and do better when I fail. I love knowing that I have a lifetime to learn these things and to grow and to know him more. He's been so good to me, even through the toughest of times.
My life's a love song.
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