No Actually, We Must Choose
- Jayspence
- Apr 11, 2020
- 4 min read
The other day, I tried forcing myself to find something interesting to watch on one of the seven local channels on TV. After seeing every channel a few times, I decided to stop searching and spend some time in devotion. My halt landed me on PBS. Growing up, I would find a bunch of unenthusiastically dope features and shows on PBS - Antique Roadshow being my favorite.
And check it out. Ye's high school art was just featured on Antique Roadshow
Back to the matter at hand - There was some a folky, music documentary playing. Come to find out it was a documentary about the musician, John Denver.
Click the photo to play the song while reading
John Denver - Annie’s Song (You Fill Up My Senses)
The song’s chorus stood out to me because of today’s bible study title - No Actually, We Must Choose.
Lyrics
You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again
There are so many distractions that we can choose to replace God with - But they all only provide temporary satisfaction. God is all we need to fill our senses. And he basically gives us extra senses when we pursue him. We have heightened courage, clarity, intuition, patience, selflessness and so much more. We receive that just by following him.
Excerpts from Today's Devotional
"We confront two mutually exclusive, diametrically opposed if-then statements, each claiming to be true."
The first is from the enemy and goes likes: if we chased things - wealth, status, sex- then our lives will be more full, then we'll have more peace, joy, security, freedom, fulfillment significance.
The second is from God: if we chase him, our Creator—if we listen to him, if we surrender, if we love, if we serve—our lives will be more full then, we’ll have more peace, joy, security, freedom, fulfillment, significance then."
[ ]Enemy
[ x ]God
Click photo to hear the song
Gospel-Like Lyrics
"I don't really give a f**k if I was just the only one who likes that.
I never like to follow, follow all around, the chase is on."
Devotional Exercise
Spend some time searching for those places in the Bible where God offers if-then statements.
My findings:
"If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors."
Deuteronomy 7:12
“If you say, 'The Lord is my refuge,' and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent."
Psalm 91:9-10
Verse of the Day
"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Mathew 4:19
Running down a rabbit hole for the word fish.
(But the word was fishers Jared.)
...I KNOW.
I went into my everyday Spotify Playlist and search the word in
STUMBLED UPON THIS SHORT-FILM STORY
(I knew about the song, but had never watched the video)
This was such a dope and timely video - A culmination of all these things touched on in today's bible study
Video: Two Fish and An Elephant - Khruangbin
Please watch first: My interpretation of the video is a SPOILER ALERT if you haven't watched it. So at the beginning of the film, you see the main character in a car with blood on her face. She has a ring on her finger that is tied to something. Because of the blood on her face and the arrows she has, this lets me know that she was in combat, trying to leave, and survived whatever chaos there was. Grace? With a clear escape, she decides to follow the string attached to the ring, back in the building. She follows the string past many dead people, and fresh off of the lesson I would assume these are all people who chase created things. There is a death that comes with that type of pursuit. Up until this point, I don't know what the hell is going on tho. She's still following the string, and I'm thinking that this ring could represent something positive. Maybe the ring symbolizes something associated with God? Following the string leads her upstairs to a man who has many arrows on his back. Is this dude God, able to withstand all evil? He begins to draw her in with a tug of the string. As she continues towards him, he takes control of her and they start to dance. Ok so at this point I'm like this is dope -- She's died to her flesh and is now dancing with God. Possibly. I mean it's got to be God right? It's effortless and flawless. The scene abruptly cuts to the knife tho, and you see that the dancing scene never happened, she just thought about what would happen if she continued to be lured in. No Actually, We Must Choose. She realized she wasn't bound by the things that weren't of God. All the slain people in this video represent the sin, distraction, and temptation that we face every day. We have this pretense that we can't leave the things that aren't of Him. In this film, you see them enjoying their time together. It all feels good, but she would have been killed -- probably by the same knife that set her free.
All of these things die upon our realization and pursuit of God. She leaves the ring and quickly exits back to her car. She has chosen to chase Him, our Creator.
“If you say, 'The Lord is my refuge,' and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent."
Psalm 91:9-10
THE BEGINNING.
The full devotional created by Wired for Men can be found here
Share using the hashtag #DopeDevotional
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