As I have pondered and prayed over the past several months about writing, what I should write about, what I should say, and what the focus of this blog should be, I woke up one morning with a prayer running through my head and realized that it was actually lyrics from a song.  I knew they were  from a song I’d heard, but at the time I could not put them into context and did not know what song they were from or who it was by.

Here’s the prayer/lyrics I woke up with that morning:

Let the words I say

Be the sound of Your grace

I don’t wanna  say a word

Unless it points the world back to You

I wanna to speak Your love

Not just another noise

I wanna be Your light

I wanna be Your voice

Let my words be life

Let my words be truth

I don’t wanna  say a word

Unless it points the world back to You

These lyrics are part of the song called Words by Hawk Nelson.  Here’s a video of the song with the lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVweXDcxhA

These lyrics expressed my heart in prayer as I contemplated stepping out and writing as I felt God was leading me to do. I don’t want this blog to be about me nearly as much as it’s about Him. I don’t need  my thoughts and opinions expressed.  My thoughts and opinions are of little consequence.  The internet is full of people’s thoughts and opinions. I want God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s compassion, and God’s truth to dominate and permeate everything I write.

I’ve been placed in a fairly unique position. It’s not totally unique to me, there are other people around who have experienced similar situations to mine. God literally saved my physical life earlier this year, on Wednesday February 6, 2013 at about 8:45pm as I clung to the back of a car knowing I was not going to be getting out of the freezing cold Trent River in my own strength and that I may not make it out of the river at all. It was a powerful, incredible, miraculous moment, that I wouldn’t wish on anyone else, but one that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

The days and weeks and months since then have been transformational in my life.  I was a Christian before February 6^th, 2013, and I’m still a Christian. But my life has been permanently re-prioritized. I am constantly aware that today may be the only one I have. Each conversation, every time I meet with people, or  I see my family members, I am continually conscious that this moment together may be the last one or the only one.

If it is the last one or the only one, it becomes critically important to leave nothing unsaid, to not part in anger, to encourage and build up, to express love, to pray, and to speak of God’s work in our lives.

I know this probably sounds like some crazy over-reaction, or something that will likely fade with time, but the thing is, the sense of urgency isn’t diminishing inside of me, if anything it’s growing.

I believe with all my heart that one of the reasons God brought me out of that freezing cold river alive was so I could write about Him. To speak about His love and to live a life every day that’s worth writing about.

If it’s not about God, it’s not worth doing. If it’s not encouraging to other people, if it doesn’t help other people, if it ultimately doesn’t direct them to the creator and ruler of the universe, it’s pointless and meaningless.

I don’t wanna say a word

Unless it points the world back to You

Words can build us up

Words can break us down

Start a fire in our hearts

Or put it out

Powerful lyrics full of truth.  Thanks Hawk Nelson for the song Words. As I officially start this first week of writing this blog, I can’t come up with a better prayer than the lyrics in this song. Pretty much everything I was praying is contained in these lyrics.  And so, with no further adieu, this blog is dedicated to the glory of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The “success” of this blog isn’t up to me.  What is up to me is my willingness to be obedient to the call He’s put on my life. God doesn’t ask us for results, I haven’t been able to find that in the Bible.  But what I do see is that He asks for me to be obedient. And when I am obedient, He provides the results.  So whatever this blog’s results are in the world’s eyes, my obedience makes the effort successful in His eyes.  At the end of this life, it’s what He thinks, not what anyone else thinks that matters. No one else is going to say, “Well done my good and faithful servant” but God, and no one else has the power to pass judgement on where I will spend eternity.

That’s pretty heavy for beginning a blog, but it is truth, and life is too short, too fleeting and too fragile to waste any time with anything but the truth.

I hope you stick around and read some more. I hope you’re encouraged, and I hope you experience God’s love in your life today.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV

Be blessed.