Listening - or Seeing
Great moment this morning as I was driving. I had the Blind Boys of Alabama's Spirit of the Century in the player. It is quite an album but there came this driving drum and beat of their rewrite/remake of the Rolling Stones' Just Want To See His Face. Here's the words that hit me:

Then you don't want to walk and talk about Jesus,
You just want to see his face.
You don't want to walk and talk about Jesus,
You just want to see his face.
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Rolling Stones- Exile On Main Street, 1972
Blind Boys of Alabama- Spirit of the Century, 2001

What a thought, I realized. Words, words, words don't cut it, I was being told. Even all the walking about Jesus- the movements, the actions that we think are about Jesus don't cut it. I don't think it's about ministry in his name. It's about busy work- activity.

It's about meeting Him- seeing His face. It's about relationships, not words. It's about seeing Him- seeing Him- that this life with him is all about. The exciting thought is that this is even possible. But it is. To see His face is the promise of faith.

So why did this hit me s strongly this morning? I don't know. But it was a shot out of the blue. It was a great feeling to know that this is possible with Jesus. But there was also the power of the music itself. It's easy to forget that the power of the music is both in the words and in the instrumentation. The push of the instruments and the beat drove the message home.

Look for Jesus. Look for his face. It's right there to remind you of God and what God is all about. Live with His face ever before you.