Don't Think Jesus (Morgan Wallen)
Verse 1:
Boy gets a guitar and starts writing songs
About whisky and women and getting too stoned
He got all three at the first show he played
Hometown said, "I don't think Jesus done it that way."
Verse 2:
Boy moved to city, lives fast and goes hard
Starts chasing the devil through honky-tonk bars
Ignoring the voices in his head that say,
"I don't think Jesus done it this way."
Chorus:
If I was Him, I'd say, "To hell with you, ain't no helping you."
Find someone else to give Heaven to, I'm telling you
I'd shame me, I'd blame me
I'd make me pay for my mistakes
Oh, but I don't think Jesus does it that way
Verse 3:
Boy's all alone, got no one to turn to
He figures he'll pray 'cause what else could he do?
He said, "I wish You would've woke me up an easier way."
But I don't think Jesus does it that way
Verse 4:
World likes to rear back and throw a few stones
So boy wants to throw a few stones of his own
But Lord knows I ain't perfect, and it ain't my place
And I don't think Jesus done it that way
Are y'all sure that Jesus done it that way?
Devotion
My Pastor, who knows me pretty well, sent me this song, saying, "A song for you i these troubled times." This is putting it mildly. Yes, we are in troubled times. But troubled times are never more than Jesus can handle, never more than He is able to bring us through.
This song is symbolic for all of us as we are all sinners. We may not have been a singer who makes it big and finds himself in the midst of the world and its ways of life, but we have all found ourselves in some kind of sinful situation....because that's what we are....sinners. And no matter what that situation was, or is, we all know that Jesus didn't do it that way. He is the only man who walked this earth, being sinless and pure. Not the rest of us....not one.
In the song, Jesus allows the boy, through his own choices, to be brought down to a place where he really doesn't want to be. A place in our humanity where we have no more power of our own. A place where we must admit that "No, Jesus didn't do it this way, and yes, I really do need Him." We must get to the point where we realize that Jesus is all we have in this world. A world that wants to kill, steal, and destroy us (John 10:10).
We just came out of celebrating Resurrection Sunday. The most glorious event in which Jesus did for us what no one else could do....while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Like the boy in the song, we look to the things of the world to give us what we need, to make our lives happy, to make us feel good. But all these things that look so good and inviting, all these things that the world tells us to come and enjoy, will only fail us in the end, leaving us destitute and with no hope. That is until we turn to the One that has always been there....just waiting for us to recognize Him and accept what He has done for us. The One that will never leave us or forsake us. The One that gave His life for us, covering our old life with all that is new. In whatever situation we decide to come face to face with our own mortality, we will see that He is all we will really ever need.
I love the chorus of this song as it tells us what Jesus does not do. He does not say, "To hell with you, ain't no helping you." He doesn't want to find someone else to give heaven to. He wants to give it to us....the ones who find themselves in the clutches of this broken, Satan controlled, chaotic world. He wants to give heaven to us and He will use whatever means He deems necessary to wake us up and make us see this as a fact. Jesus, through our own choices, will allow us to take ourselves into the depths of hell in order to get us into heaven!
A personal note: Someone in my family who was, at one time, very upset with me because of my beliefs and views on Jesus, told me that they felt that I thought I was better than them. This has never been, and will never be, the case. I am no better than anyone in my family or outside of my family....no one. I am a sinner too. But I will say that I am different. Different in the sense that, in my sin, I realized I needed a Savior, someone outside of myself who could pull me out of what the world was telling me was an ok way to live. You see I knew, with all my heart, that Jesus didn't do it this way. So, I did the only thing that I could....I fell on my knees at His feet. I changed no other part of my life at the time, because I also knew that He wanted me just the way I was....in all my sin and depravity. But, once I began to acknowledge who He was and what He wanted to be and do in my life, everything about that old life started to change. Jesus doesn't want you to change anything about your life. He doesn't do it this way. He just wants you to come to Him. HE does all the changing, not you or anyone else....only Him. I am still a sinner, but, Praise Him! He is changing me through a life-long process that will not end until He takes my last breath. He did it for me and He will do it for you.
Psalm 103:10 in the Passion Bible says, "You may discipline us for our many sins, but never as much as we really deserve. Nor do you get even with us for what we've done." Jesus loves us. He wants what's best for us. The church, and I can only speak for mine, is just a group of sinners who are trying to live as He would have them to live. Jesus never threw any stones, and we won't either. Come, join us.
If you're one of those out there who thinks you can't come to Jesus until you clean yourself up, well....
I don't think Jesus does it this way.