Country Gospel

A few weeks ago I was listening to the country show Mountain Stage on the radio. One of the guests on the show was Dierks Bentley. He played several songs off of his latest album, released in 2009, Feel That Fire. One of the songs he played was Better Believer




You can read the lyrics here.

What a great song! The song is about a person who, like many of us, only turns to God when things are going bad. When times are good, we tend to lose focus of God and He becomes an afterthought. Realizing the error in this, Bentley says in the chorus

A better believer would look to the skies
And shout "hallelujah" with tears in his eyes
Open his heart and start givin it all away
When I take a hard look at myself
And count my blessings I can't but help
But wonder if there's been some kind of mistake
This life of mine should belong to a better believer

The message is two fold in the song. We fail to look to God when times are good and God has blessed us beyond belief.

First, our failure to look to God when times are good. It seems easier to call on God when times are bad because we are in need of him. However, Paul tells us in 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Paul uses the words always, without ceasing, in everything, instructing us to always remember God and to focus on Him. In Deuteronomy 6, when God is giving commandments to the Israelites, he tells them "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." God wants us to remember Him at all times. He encourages, indeed instructs us to do things so that we are constantly reminded of Him and His words.

But how easy it is to forget Him when times are good! When things are hard, I remember Him constantly because I am in need and calling on Him. But when times are good, it is much harder. Do whatever it takes to remember God daily. If it takes binding his words on your hand and writing them on your door, then so be it.

Second, God has blessed us beyond what we deserve. When I look at my life, I deserve very little. But God has blessed me tremendously. He has provided me a job that I want. I am able to go out and do what I want on a daily basis for fun. I live in the greatest country. I have friends who care about me. I am able to contact a good friend of mine who lives half a world away instantaneously. I am able to complain that I have to spend $0.12/min to talk to her. I lack for nothing and need from no one. I am able to provide for myself and others. I live in safety. What have I done to have this? Surely God meant for so many of these blessings to go to someone else, someone more deserving. Surely he did.

With all I've got to be thankful for
I should be doing so much more
I know