My brothers and I were driving to Iowa the other night to our parents home to get ready to leave for Colorado for our annual summer vacation. My truck was the vehicle of choice and I volunteered myself to ride in the back seat for the first half of the trip with Nala and Kona, our two dogs. We had the Ipod on shuffle and the volume up...as I sat there with our dogs, trying to get comfortable, I started to think about the relationship between our dogs and us. They love their 'masters'. They love people. We give them a command and they obey. The longer the music played and the louder it was, the more relaxed they were. The more I thought about it, the more obvious the correlation became. My life should look like that. Really, Ben??!! You're comparing your life to that of a dogs'??!!! Hahahah...no. But think about it for a minute. Seriously. Do I really LOVE my master..JESUS?? Do I really LOVE people?? My enemies?? Random strangers who come to the 'door' of my life?? Do I obey when Jesus tells or asks me to do something? Do I follow His commands everyday? The longer I think about it, the more it starts to hurt....because I know that the answer to some of those questions is no. YES...I absolutely love Jesus!! But does everything I do and everything I say make people say, "I want what he has!" Do I live my life so LOUD, that it drowns out the distractions of this world!? That it causes change in everyone I come in contact with?! Have you ever noticed that the louder Jesus is in your life, the more at peace you are? You stop looking for acceptance and worth in this world and you start finding it in Christ. You start finding peace and freedom in the quiet moments. You start finding it in the times you serve. The times you Worship. You find JOY in OBEDIENCE! Just as Nala and Kona receive a 'treat' and are happiest when they're obedient....when JESUS shines so BRIGHT and shouts so LOUD in your life, that His kingdom walks with you!! Those around you and those you come in contact with can't help but be affected and changed. God pours out His blessings on you as you walk. As you walk in Christ and you become less so that He can become more (be LOUD) in your life. Then you start to walk in your calling, and you become unstoppable because the ONE who's already conquered death is leading you. The Message puts the apostle Paul's words beautifully in 1 Peter 3:13-18:
If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
As a worship leader, I desire to live like that! Everyday is a battle, and sometimes I fall, sometimes my faith is weak, sometimes I feel like I want to give up...But my God is right there to pick me up. He's there to give me a glimpse of His plan that's way bigger than I could ever imagine. I want my life to scream the name of JESUS! Above all else I want His name to be lifted high in and through my life. On and off the stage as a worship leader.
I want to LIVE OUT LOUD! How will you live?
Ben
