Tenth Avenue North, and some thoughts about grace and God's love
I don't usually talk about songs in my blog, but I just thought I'd share this.
Angelyn has been playing this song on the piano for a couple of weeks now (she found it via youtube), and the melody got stuck in my head, so I decided to look up the lyrics and the band that wrote the song. I really the song because it directs the listener's to focus on Jesus, versus the common over emphasis on self (what I do or can do) that is often found in modern christian music.
Why are you striving these days Why are you trying to earn grace Why are you crying Let me lift up your face Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough To where will you go child Tell me where will you run To where will you run
And I'll be by your side Wherever you fall In the dead of night Whenever you call And please don't fight These hands that are holding you My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side They swallowed the grave on that night When I drank the world's sin So I could carry you in And give you life I want to give you life
Cause I, I love you I want you to know That I, I love you I'll never let you go
To be completely honest, sometimes when I'm in a self-effort rut, I think that it seems so cliched to keep on focusing on God's love. Shouldn't we be moving on to other aspects of God's nature?
One of the members of Tenth Ave North's bio on myspace summed up my thoughts perfectly on this subject. He wrote:
How does one love God? Well, John says, "we love because He first loved us." And if that's true, then my whole approach must change. No longer am I condemning myself in the mirror, saying, "come on Mike, get your act together." No. Instead I simply incline my gaze to the cross. If I'm not loving God, it's because I'm not believing I'm loved. And how do I know that I am loved? "This is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ laid down his life..."
This relates so well with Pastor Joshua's message last Saturday.
Thanks, Angelyn :) (ps: check out her blog and leave her a comment!)
