Live Like That

So I am beginning to realize how it is so much harder for me to blog in the summer than it is during the school year. You would think it would be the total opposite due to homework and projects and test and such, but oddly enough its not. But I am beginning to realize its due to the fact that during the school year I am surrounded by so much more "spirtual" ideas, if thats what they are called, compared to in the summer. I don't like it one bit. I mean I do love summer and not being at school all the time, but I wish I could still go to chapel three times a week, have Bible studies with my team, and all kinds of other things I don't experience during the summer. I mean I love reading my Bible every morning when I wake up and love going to church on Sundays, but I just don't feel as on fire as I did during the school year. Luckly though someone who helps in the college ministery at my church is starting a Bible study over the book of James and I decided to join because I need it and thats one of my favorite books of the Bible. I am so excited to see what God will teach me through that book and study.
But this blog post is not meant for me to gripe about how I miss school and how my spiritual life is in a drought right now. I am pretty sure I would lose readers if I talked about that the whole time. So I'll try to add some more excitment starting now.
As many have caught on most of my blogs are inspired by songs that have really caught me with their words. There the songs that I least expect to like or the ones that the first time I listen to them, I don't really feel anything, but once I listen to them multiple times and really listen to the words, I fall in love with them. My most recent "love song", so to say, is Live Like That by the Sidewalk Prophets. Every time I listen to it, it gets me and challenges me every time. There isn't one verse in that song that doesn't hit home. The live like that of the title is talking about living a life that really reflects who Jesus is and seeing if everything one says or does in the end points to Jesus. This song isn't just a song, but rather a challenge to each listener who listens. Listeners like me.
Like all songs, I'll start from the beginning. When the song opens it says, "Sometimes I think what will people say of me when I'm only just a memory when I'm home where my soul belongs". I don't know if I am the only person who thinks this, but I always have random times when I think those exact words. What will people say of me when I'm not here any more? Whether its soon or when I die of old age, just whenever, what will people truly say about me? The most often time this comes up is when I hear about young people dying or when I go to a funeral. Who would show up for me? What would people say of me? Would people miss me? While I know these should not haunt me or bother me or make me wonder, they do.
The next part of the song are a few other questions that I always ponder when I think about the way I am living. The first one sang is "Was I love when no one else would show up?" The point of this one is to say when no one showed up to love someone, was I one who did or who didn't? It is a lot like the parable of the good samaritan Jesus told in Luke 10. Even though Jesus was trying to teach the lawyer who his neighbor was it still gets at the idea of loving at the right time. If any of us were walking down a road and suddenly saw a man who had just been beated and left there, which of the passer byers would we be? The priest or the Levite who when "he saw him passed by on the other side" (vs 31,32) or the Samaritan who "had compassion" (vs 33) on the man? The Samaritan was the "love when no one else showed up". That is the type of person the song was referring to and I want to be the love when no one elses shows up everyday. Whether its loving a family member when you could get mad at them. Or simply smiling at a customer who looks like they are having a bad day. Or sending a quick note to someone just to let them know you care for them. I think showing love to someone doesn't have to be a big deal, it just has to be a way of showing someone you care about them. But also I think its also realizing that you may not get anything in return. You could show love to someone and they may just take it and accept it, but not show the love back. But that is what this love is about. Loving when no one else showed up. Loving someone when no one else wanted to love them. I just recently read a quote and knew exactly that I should share it with you. The quote said "Love is not just a feeling we have; its a decision to treat people the way Jesus would treat them." Love isn't just a feeling we may have towards someone; its the act of going out and treating everyone with the love of Jesus. So many times I don't do this. I don't show the love of Jesus when it is so simple to do. It shouldn't be that hard to smile at someone or go out of my way to show that love. Jesus asks us to love our neighbor as ourself. From now on I'm going to continue to ask myself "Was I love when no one else showed up?" Did I love like the Samaritan did? How am I going to love today?
Well folks, thats part one. You are in for a long one here. :)
The next part is just about the same as the first part. It says "Was I Jesus to the least of those?" This part is similar because its just saying did I act like Jesus would have acted in a situation. Did I show compasion, have mercy and grace, loved when one least deserved it? Just like Jesus did so many times throughout His life time. Its going to be hard to do all those things from a day to day basis, but with God all things are possible. While it will take time, each and everyone of us can eventaully get to that point. We just have to be willing to go out of our way to show compasion to the person who needs it most. We have to be willing to have grace and mercy when one least deserves it. Or like I said before love the ones who no one else will love.
"Was my worship more than just a song?" This is the next part. I didn't even realize this part was in the song till just recently. Over the past year I have become to realize that how we worship God really is a big part of our lives as Christians. So many times in my life when ever I am singing (in church mostly), I just sing. I go through the motions. Read the words and repeat them along with the leader. Then when they are over I sit down and thats the end of those songs for the day. Here is where I have to stop myself and say, "Wow Alex. No. Thats not the right way." I can honestly answer and say so many times my worship is nothing more than just a song where I don't even know what words just came out of mouth. I just continue to go through the motions. But recently I have tired my best to change this. I want everytime I sing a song of worship to actually be a time of worship, where I really pay attetion to the words and understand the true meaning behind them. I am tired of going through the motions of just standing there and singing. I want my worship to be more than just a song. I know the next time I stand in church and sing the words that show up on the screen, I won't just sing, I'll woship. How about you? Have you asked yourself that before? Is YOUR worship more than just A song?
Well we finally made it to the chorus! :)
The chorus is my favorite part, by far. It says:
"I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do points to You"
The artists are saying they want to live like that, all they mentioned in the parts before, so that everything they do points to Jesus. They want to love when no one else does, they want to be Jesus to everyone, and they want their worship to be more than just a song. But not only do they want that for themselves, they want it for us, the listeners. I want everything I say and do to point to Jesus in the end. I want to be the love when no one else shows up. I want to be Jesus to the least of those. I want my worship to be more than a song. I want to live in a way that shows I live for Jesus and only Jesus. I want to give it all I have. Just like my last blog said, I want to deny myself and follow Him. Because in the end I want every single thing I do with my life here on earth to point to Jesus in the end. What we do for Him is the only thing that matters in the end. Anything we do for ourselves is just of this life and will waste away when death comes. It's what we do for Jesus that will be honored in the end. So why not make sure "everything I say and do point(s) to You (Him)"? Yeah it will be hard, but I like a little bit of a challenge, so I'll suffer. I'll suffer for Him anyday. I want to live like that. Do you?
The next part goes on to say:
"If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back
I want to live like that"
This part is just a sum up of all we went through before. If we want to be the "love" of the world, so to say, then we will stand where we are right now and let it all go while never holding back or being scared and live it out. Whenever we are faced with the chance to live our life like the way of Jesus did, we will. We won't let anything hinder us. I want to say more here, but I think that is the only and best way to put this part of the song.
Next:
"Am I proof that You are who You say You are
That grace can really change a heart
Do I live like Your love is true"
This part says most the same thing that the whole song says. Am I a walking image of who Christ really is? Does the way I act show who Jesus really is? It's not just a question I should ask myself constantly, but that any true follower of Christ should ask themselves on a day to day basis. Am I living proof that all Jesus says He is is really true? I was just flipping through the book of John to find the verse that says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6), when I, myself, just realized all the things Jesus says He is in that book alone. Let me make a "short" list here.
-"I am the bread of life" (6:35)
-"I am the light of the world" (8:12)
-"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples" (8:31)
-"I am the door." (10:9)
-"I am the good shepard." (10:14)
-"I give them eteranl life." (10:28)
And the list goes on. He says He is all these, and He indeed is. But does the way we act show proof to the ones who don't believe that this is who He is? Again, doing this will be hard, but with His help it won't be so hard.
The last part of the song is the part that really hits me the most. It says,
"People pass and even if they don't know my name
Is there evidence that I have been changed
When they see me, do they see You"
This little verse wraps up the whole song perfectly. When people pass who don't know anything about me, is there something about me that shows I have been changed by Jesus? Do they see His attributes in myself? Ever since this song, I ask myself this constantly. Does the way I act towards the people I surround myself with or even the people who just pass by me, are they able to tell that I'm a follower of Jesus Christ? Do I act differently than others? Do I? Do you? Not to boast in myself, but a lot of times people will tell me that I have a great smile. Many of you who know me well, know that I love to smile. It's hard for me not to. I smile becasue I am blessed. I am blessed because God has blessed me with a great life, one that I wouldn't trade for anything. While I know I am smiling because of the life God has given me, do others that don't know me, know that is why I am smiling? But not just that, but does everything I say and do on a normal basis show that I am living my life for Christ? I always wonder what people who don't know that I follow Christ think of me when they first see me. Lots of you know that I work at Martins and probably know that I love working there. For some reason when I ask myself these questions, working at Martins pops into my head. Do the co-workers that I am around a lot of the time know that I want to honor God in everything I do, which includes my job? Or do even the customers I come in contact with. Do they see something different about me compared to the others who work around me? So many times I wonder these things. Its like the song says, "When they see me, do they see You?" Then the question comes up, what should I do to make sure they do see Him when they first see me. Well its like the song talks about earlier. I have to be the love when no one else showed up. I have to be Jesus to the least of those. I have to make my worship more than just a song. But it doesn't just stop there. I have to be all that Jesus was to the best of my ability. I will never, ever, ever be as great as Jesus was. Never. But I can at least try my best to get as close as I can. Every time I step somewhere I want people to know that I am a follower of Christ not just by telling them I am, but by my actions on a day to day basis. I know I will have times where I will fail, but I can learn from those too. While I will continue to wonder if people can see Christ through me, I can't let it bother me and just have to continue to "be Jesus to the least of those".
The chorus then repeats after that.
"I want to live like that and give it all I have so that everything I say and do point to You."
Ever since I have heard this song, that has been my pray. I want to live like that of Jesus Christ and give Him everything I have so that my life points to Him. So, like the beginning of the song says, that when I am just a memory, I want people to look back on my life and be able to say something was "different" about me. And that difference being that I lived for Jesus Christ. I want my words, actions, behaviors, the way I treat others, etc. to all point to Jesus Christ. Because really, He is the only thing that matters. He is the only one we should try and please with our lives.
As I was flipping through my Bible, I came across something I had written in the margin of Romans. It says "How is your life different because God's Spirit lives in you?" I think that sums up. I have no idea when I wrote that or even what verse it was associated with, it was just there. But it hit the spot like no other. How is my life different from everyone else around me because of God's Spirit that lives in me? How is it? How is your life different?
Every day when I lay my head down at night I'll ask myself thess questions.
"Was I the love when no one else showed up?
"Was I Jesus to the least of those?"
"Was my woship more than just a song?"
"How is my life different because of the Spirit living inside?"
"Can people see Jesus through me?"
At the very end of the song it says,
"I want to show the world the love You gave me
I'm longing for the world to know the glory of the King"\
I want to show the world the love He has loved me with and I want the world to know the glory of the King. But that only happens if I live like He lived. If I lay it all down for Him everyday. Never holding back. Recklessly abandoned. Only if love is who I want to become. I want to live like that.
I want to live like that.
And give it all I have.
So that everything points to You.
I want to live like that.
Every. Single. Day.
Whether I'm at home. Whether I'm at school. Whether I'm at Martins. Whether I'm in my car.
I want to live like that.
Because I want people to know I lived for Christ when I am just a memory.
Am I the proof the He is who He says He is?
Am I?
Are you?
And the one final question is:
Will I live like that?
Will you live like that?
I'm going to try and I'll pray you will too.
We can do it, we have Jesus holding our hand.
So once you hit the red x to close this blog down, how will you live?
I am going to live like that.

:)