Elul :: Asleep in the Light

One of my favorite Keith Green songs from his album No Compromise goes in part like this:

The world is sleeping in the dark,

That the church just can't fight,

'cause it's asleep in the light!

How can you be so dead?!

When you've been so well-fed

Jesus rose from the grave,

And you! You can't even get out of bed!

I always feel convicted every time I hear that song. Admittedly, I don't hear it much these days, as it was released in 1978 and doesn't get much air time anymore, especially since Keith died in 1982. I want my mind to be boggled that this song didn't make it to the list 11 Keith Green Songs That Changed Worship Music, but I get why it didn’t. A song that challenges our lukewarm complacency is not exactly a song that gets our spiritual vibes revved up. But today's Elul devotional brought it to mind as I read Light Shines in the Darkness.

In the darkness... we "are like one-year-old children who attempt to play hide-and-seek by covering their own eyes, assuming that if they cannot see others, then others cannot see them." The problem is that we try to live our lives like that - until someone switches on the light and we see things as they are: "All your soiled places, all your spots, stains, wrinkles, and blemishes become visible."

But stepping into the Light is a good thing. It forces us to face the "inadequacy of [our] coping mechanisms" and causes us to want to change. The more I get into this introspection and start examining the darkness I have let creep into my life, the more I am challenged to seek out the light. One of the "Challenges" for today is to "shine HIS light on what [I] have been prioritizing, ...spending [my] spare time doing, ...spending non-essential money to purchase, ...allowing [my] mind to think about..."

I've got to admit, there's a bit of a glare.

Thank you, Christine Miller.