When I die I want them to play "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri at my funeral. Umm, death, funerals, are you okay Whitney? Are you sick? Why are you talking about this right now? Isn't that a wedding song? I understand this does seem a bit random but hear me out.
I absolutely love the song A Thousand Years! So much so that I had the instrumental version of the song by The Piano Guys in my wedding. A Thousand Years was theme song of the 4th Twilight Saga movie, Breaking Dawn and while I was definitely a "Twiheart," this surprisingly isn't about my slight obsession with the books and movies, #TeamJacob.
I'm convinced A Thousand Years was written to be a worship song. Okay, maybe it wasn't but it should be. Maybe, I can convince the worship team at my church to put it into rotation. What do you say GCC ROA? The other day I was listening to this song and I was in tears. TEARS, people and I am not a big crier at all. The lyrics touched me so deeply because I imagined this being exactly how I want my first encounter with Jesus to be when I meet Him in heaven. I imagine this being our inner and outer dialogue. Granted this is strictly my creative imagination of how the encounter will go and I'm sure it will be a million times better than this but here goes:
I open my eyes and as the pearl gates open I see Jesus standing at the other end of the street of gold, as I begin to walk towards Him....
Me (thinking): Heart beats fast. Colors and promises. How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall? But watching you stand alone, all of my doubts suddenly goes away somehow.
Me and Jesus (out loud): One step closer.
When I think of this part of the song I imagine that when I die some of the insecurities I felt on earth will temporarily follow me because there will be a bit of disorientation for a second as the transition from earth to heaven takes place. Insecurities about love, fear and whatever else may flood my mind but as soon as I see Jesus any and every fear, doubt and everything not of the Lord I ever felt will immediately go away and all I'll want to do is get to Him and Him to me.
Me: I have died every day waiting for you.
Jesus: Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more.
Romans 8:13 (NIV) says, "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you to put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." If anyone ever tells you that being a Christian is easy then they are not telling you the truth. It's hard and there have been plenty of times that I have battled my flesh. Sometimes I pass the tests it gives me and often times I have failed. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26: 41 NIV). These lyrics make me think of these very things, how by choosing to follow Christ I must die to myself daily, even when it's hard, even when I don't want to or feel like it. And to hear Jesus say that He's loved me for so long will the sweetest thing ever! It reminds me of Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)- "Before I formed you in your mother's womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Me: Time stands still. Beauty in all she is. I will be brave, I will not let anything take away what's standing in front of me. Every breath. Every hour has come to this.
Both: One step closer
My main goal in life is to get to heaven and live with Jesus forever and hopefully bring along as many people as I can. The lyrics are very literal to me here by saying "Every breath. Every hour has come to this," because it has. To be able to stand before the creator of the universe, time, and beauty I absolutely will "be brave" and "not let anything take away what's standing in front of me." As a Christian I think it's very important to keep a tunnel vision and focus on our main objective which is Christ and being Christlike and while there will be plenty of obstacles that try to get in our way, we can't let those things trip us up and discourage us from our constant pursuit of Christ.
Me: And all along I believed I would find you.
Jesus: Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more.
John 14:6 (NIV) says, Jesus answered "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This is in response to one of Jesus's disciples, Thomas, asking how will they know the way if they don't know where Jesus is going. As a follower of Christ there may be days where you will have questions of where your life is headed because you just aren't sure. You may even try to find your purpose or calling and start pursuing something that God has never called you to do or because you're good at something you think that's what you're supposed to be doing and God hasn't necessarily called you to do that either. Does that mean you should just not use your gifts for God's kingdom? No, but realize that He is what you pursue over all other things. These lyrics remind me that even during my worst days and darkest moments, I had faith that God would be there for me and John 14:6 makes it clear that Jesus is the only way to get to God and that only through time in His Word and building a relationship with Christ will my heart be for Him.
Me (tears in my eyes):One step closer
Jesus (with a smile on His face and arms outstretched to me): One step closer
Me (falling in His arms and in a voice barely above a whisper): I have died everyday waiting for you.
Jesus (holding me closely): Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more.
Me: And all along I believed I would find you.
Jesus: Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more.
This is the part of the song I really love. While the lyrics remain the same, I imagine this being those final steps before Jesus and I are face to face. The emotion I'll no doubt feel once I'm finally with my King! My heavenly Father, telling Him how long I've wanted to be with Him and knowing I'll be with Him for all eternity. The exhaustion, joy, relief, the shock, awe and wonder, the peace....I'm pretty sure there will be an ugly cry or two in there somewhere :) And to have Him reassure me that He has loved me forever and will continue to do so forever, it takes my breath away....and then we'll waltz (yes, waltz because I imagine this being the ultimate father/daughter/bride/groom moment and at those fancy weddings they always waltz lol) off into clouds, or sunrise, or sunset or whatever cool background heaven has to offer because I mean, He's Jesus, of course you dance when you meet Him....Just ask David :)
So why at my funeral? I'm not sure when I will die, of course and although this seems like a song that a younger generation may appreciate more, for me, the sentiment remains timeless. So even if I am old and gray when I die, I want this song to be an uplifting reminder to my family and give them peace knowing that even though they are mourning, they can find comfort in the fact that I am with Jesus, that I looked forward to the moment I would meet Him and be happy that this is how I imagine it will go.
Like I said this is strictly from my own imagination based off of these lyrics and know it will be so much more than this. I'm grateful the Lord allows me to have a creative side that let's me get closer to Him and not see Him as some far off, untouchable entity in the clouds somewhere but a very tangible, loving Father who wants a real relationship with me.
Here's the song below.
Now that you've read my commentary about it, can you imagine it just a little bit? Even if you don't agree with me about what I've said, it's still a beautiful song. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'll go find dust off my copy Breaking Dawn part 1 DVD and give it a watch. Until next time.
Blessings,
Whitney
0 comments:
Post a Comment