This looks like a perfect time to start thinking about a song. I think I’ll put down something for Josiah Queen’s “a life worth dying” because it seems pretty important.

When someone asks the question, “Why do I want to live / want to die?”, we start out with thinking of something philosophical and have to get into all of the thinking behind it.

But take a minute, don’t bury yourself in all of that. Let go. This isn’t a philosophy project on the nature of life and purpose. It’s a seeking-reminder, reminder-seeking thing. It’s a moment to take a step back and to think about what this song is saying… and hopefully that can shine a light on something more about following Jesus.

One of the common criticisms I’ve seen of the Christian music is that it can be very shallow or superficial. Of course, I’ve read in the comments, the artists wouldn’t ideally write songs with anything offensive or commanding or anything too serious because that would lead away people seeing that the message is too far. They just talk about God’s love to make people who are having trouble feel better, then that’s how they get popular and make money. They point to the quality of Jesus always being kind, always making people feel better, not focusing on judgement or exposing the harsh truths that might be needed to turn our lives around. They think that they’re saving souls, it looks like, when they’re more focused on making people addicted to nice sounding instruments and good feelings. A negative critic of Christian music would ask, “Does that sound like a ministry to you?”

I think that when we get more specific with teachings, there are more debates and arguments about what should be the real belief. But one thing I know we can get out of this song is a simple reminder… what does a life worth dying look like? It looks like Jesus on the cross.

It looks like saying that your faith isn’t just about feeling better or being a good person. It looks like saying that your faith isn’t proven by how many times you go to church or say prayers. It looks like saying that your faith isn’t just about celebrating life.

Your faith could end up being leaving all that you’ve known behind and getting martyred.

If they advertised that message, who would want to commit and believe? It would be the ones who were willing to go there, who had no other choice but to fold in and lay down their lives. It isn’t a comfort situation… it’s a discomfort situation. It means that all the worldly things are taken away from you. You have to pass through sadness, death, suffering, and pain. Am I ready for that? Are you ready for that?

To truly live out the faith, we can’t be comfortable all the time. That’s the goal. And in this message, Jesus is here to take us and detach us from the worldly things. In other words, as I like to put it… “You’re making me want to go to Heaven” when I realize that life isn’t going to fill my all-perfect expectations.

Maybe it’s true that a brave soul makes a brave soldier. The one who is brave enough to risk one’s life for what he or she believes seems to be the right one to fight for those beliefs.

After all, what’s the worst that can happen? You die… and you leave the world behind, the world that Jesus says you’ve never belonged to in the first place. Or even worse, the people around you lose out on beliefs and separate themselves for God forever. That’s the one we would want to avoid, but that’s their choice. They don’t consider God to be the almighty solution… so they picked themselves instead.

In “a life worth dying,” that’s your life goal now. Give careers a lower priority. Remind families that there’s something more important. Forget the junk that you think you need. In the end, God matters most. All the eyes will go up and look toward King Jesus. So do whatever He tells you, as Mary said. That’s the life worth living. That is your hope.

You’re doing a trade. In your hand is your life. In God’s hand is Jesus’ life. Switch them. Jesus gives you His life, and then you give Him yours.

Ok then, if the Lord approves. The song starts with Josiah Queen wanting to know You personally, not just about You. And in that, I call it the Internal Experience… I’m experiencing myself, but I’m also experiencing God creating a story and there’s a way to get closer to that intended story by acting more like God. At the end of the Internal Experience is a moment of offering death to God. When I want to know God, maybe the best way is to do what God would do. So what is God going to do? I’m trying to follow the narrow road. I’m trying to take up the cross. I’m trying to live the life worth dying.