"Until you find something worth dying for...

...you’re not really living.”

Embarrassing confession of the day: I’ve been listening to Rebecca St. James…and enjoying it!

An old song of hers came up on my iTunes this morning. The lyrics caught my attention and gave me kind of a fire inside. The song is about living beyond yourself…standing up for what you know is true, even if you face adversity because of it.

The lyrics allude to an event recorded in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Historical background: Jerusalem has been destroyed and the Jewish people are in exile in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is the Babylonian ruler, and he sets up this gold statue and commands the people to bow down and worship it (I think it might have been a gold statue of himself, but I’m not sure). Anyone who refuses will be thrown into a furnace and burned to death. Harsh dude! Anyway, there are these three Jewish guys who refuse to bow down to the statue because they don’t want to be disloyal to God by worshiping something other than him. So Nebuchadnezzar gets a little pissed (I think the guy had an ego problem) and tells them he’s going to throw them into the furnace; “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (He had power issues, too)

Yikes! I’m not sure what I would have done in this situation. I’d probably be more than a little tempted to compromise my convictions once I could feel the heat of that furnace. But what do these three dudes say? I love this! They say, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Uh, dang. I want that kind of conviction. (Oh, and the ending of the story is really, really cool. If you’re curious, you can read about it in Daniel chapter 3.)

So anyway, I love the song and I love this story. There’s something so cool about living for something beyond yourself…living for a purpose that extends beyond our measly 70-some years on earth, working 9 to 5 and sleeping in on Saturdays. Our lives matter--each one of us--and we get to choose what we'll live them for. Who we'll serve.

What do you choose?

Thought I’d share the lyrics here.

"They laugh because they see
I live for more than me
They point their fingers,
Push me nearer to the flame
They say "We serve no one"
"We just live to please ourselves"
All men serve something…

Chorus:
Father, carry me high, lift me to the sky
Let me be where you are
Hold me, ever so closely, let me know your mercy
Let me be where you are

They can laugh, but let them see
You are the hope in me
They can point their fingers
Push me nearer to the flame
God, You can save me from the fire
I'm Yours, even if you don't
Whatever comes I take this vow
I will never bow…

Chorus

I will never bow…

Until you find something
Worth dying for
You're not really living

I will never bow…"