Riding home from Church tonight I was changing radio stations and came upon a song I have heard before. It touched me the first time I listened to it and it did tonight.
I love just about every kind of music that there is. I grew up loving music. My family loved music. My mom and dad would play all different types of music. No one in my family played an instrument or sang etc….we just loved music. It took root in me somewhere along the way and I knew I had to sing. My mom says I would get out in the center of a room, put my hands up and say, “Attention, I need your attention please.” Of course then I would break out into some rendition of a song that touched me, all the while holding a pretend microphone. I just had to share it. I guess you could say I had the “music in me”.
It is always the lyrics for me. Some people are driven to a song because they want to dance to it, cry during it or exercise with it. Not me, I want to listen to it. I want to get it down in me, down in my bones. If a song has no lyrical value I have no interest in it. There is nothing to be gained from it as far as I am concerned. Now, it is not that I am against dancing. I used to like to cut a rug back in the day. But even then the lyrics needed to be good because of course you needed to be able to sing along loudly with your friends while out on the dance floor. Yes, even this southern Baptist girl likes to have a little fun!
Back to the music……So tonight on my way home, I heard a song by NF called “I’ll Keep On”. I am gonna lose some of you I am sure because the song has a “rap style” to it, but hang with me. Remember it is about the lyrics. The first three lines will get you right out of the gate. As I drove I knew some sister friend in Christ needed to hear it tonight. I knew that somewhere someone is dreading tomorrow. Somewhere someone wants to pull the covers up and they haven’t even gotten in bed yet. Somewhere someone needs to be encouraged by these lyrics. So here they are (rap and all) :
I’ll Keep On
Oh these hands are tired
Oh this heart is tired
Oh this soul is tired
But I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
Faith is something I am not accustomed to
Trusting other people’s something I don’t really love to do
I’ve never been a fan of it, I act tougher
Really my shoulders they ain’t built for this and I don’t have nothing
It’s like I’m standing in the rain and you offer me a raincoat
But I would rather stand there being wet than take the handout
What’s wrong with me?
You said, you’ve always got your hands out
And I can’t continue on my own so take my hands now
I give you everything, God, not just a little bit
Take it from me, I am nothing but a hypocrite
I hate sin but I built a house and asked to live in it
Afraid to open up the door to you, let you into it
My soul is lost and what it needs is your direction
I know, I’ve told you I do not need your protection
But I lied to you, this thing is tiring
A man was not created for a God
Please retire me now
Oh these hands are tired
Oh this heart is tired
Oh this soul is tired
But I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
Trust is something I am not accustomed to
And I know the Bible says that I should always trust in you
But, I will never read that book enough
And when I have a question I don’t take the time to look it up
Or pick it up
It collects dust on my nightstand
I’m just being honest
Please take this outta my hands
I have no control, I am just a person
But thank the Lord that I serve a God that’s perfect
I do not deserve the opportunity you’ve given me
I never knew what freedom was until I learned what prison means
I am not ashamed, I don’t care if they remember me
My life will always have a hold of you and not the centerpiece
There’s no better feeling then when I look in the sky, in your eyes, it’s amazing
Oh these hands are tired
Oh this heart is tired
Oh this soul is tired
But I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
I’ll keep on
“I never knew what freedom was until I learned what prison means.” Freedom. Do you know what freedom means? You, that someone that is somewhere tonight not wanting to start a new week let alone another day. Are you tired? Is your heart aching, is your soul weary? Let me encourage you with the words from my favorite apostle, Paul ( who like me was the “chief of sinners” )
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. Philippians 3: 13-14
Get up tomorrow and keep on. Get up tomorrow and press on. Give those tired hands to the Healer. Pour your heart out to Him, He is listening. Let your soul be restored because He is in the restoring business. Keep on my sister friend, keep on and don’t look back.
Living free,
Rene’
