Jacaranda: Josh Garrels

First will be last when the true world comes, livin’ like a humble fool to overcome the upside-down wisdom of a dying world.

I love music. Everyone that knows me knows this. Music is something that can drive our emotions, wreck our souls, and break our hearts. We scream with it when we’re mad, cry with it when we’re sad, and worship with in at the throne of our Lord.

This week, while listening to Spotify Radio, Josh Garrels came up. He’s one of my favorites. His tone, his guitar, and— by golly!— his lyrics rip me apart. Somehow Nikki hadn’t heard him until now. Needless to say, she loves him as much as I do now.

Humility

What makes me love Josh the most is his humility. He doesn’t write traditional “worship” or “Christian” music. His music is counter-cultural.

My kingdom’s built with the blood of slaves: orphans, widows, and homeless graves. I sold their souls just to build my private mansion.

Humility isn’t something that comes easy in our culture. We’re constantly selling ourselves— our skills, our knowledge, our lives— to make more money. Our generation was told from birth that we could be anything we wanted— and given trophies even when we sucked—, and now we are plagued with entitlement issues unlike any generation before us. Christ tells us to die to ourselves. Many have no idea what that means. Many do and cannot fathom doing it.

Meaningless

Heaven and the earth will pass away, but your words all remain.

What we need to remind ourselves of daily is that it is all meaningless. Josh cries for us to leave consumerism, calls to the lost that don’t know the Way, calls them to come home to the Father. I said in our Young Married small group this week that Ecclesiastes should end with “but Jesus.”

Without our Lord as the reason for everything in our life, everything is meaningless. Dust in the wind. What remains when it all passes away is the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

All that I own does not compare to the love that we share.