September 14, 2020 (Monday)
Did you know that the music for our national anthem was originally a British drinking song? Somehow the music and the 1814 poem by Francis Scott Key got together and became our national anthem.
A song that is sung these days with great dignity and pride had its beginnings in British pubs. Well, that’s sort of symbolic of the way God works in our lives, lifting us up from our sin and placing us on “higher ground.” This blog is not really about the National Anthem; it’s about how its music illustrates the transforming power of the Lord in our lives. An old drinking song has become the song that causes us to stand at attention and listen reverently, sometimes singing it with others because of what it now represents.
The song,”An Old Chunk of Coal” written by Billy Shaver and sung by John Anderson reminds us of the transformation that can happen in a person’s life:
I’m just an old chunk of coal but I’m gonna be a diamond some day
I’m gonna grow and glow till I’m so blue pure perfect
I’m gonna put a smile on everybody’s face
I’m gonna kneel and pray every day lest I should become vain along the way
I’m just an old chunk of coal now Lord but I’m gonna be a diamond some dayI’m gonna learn the best way to walk gonna search and find a better way to talk
I’m gonna spit and polish my old rough edged self till I get rid of every flaw
I’m gonna be the world’s best friend gonna go round shaking everybody’s hand
I’m gonna be the cotton pickin’ rage of the age I’m gonna be a diamond some day.
O Lord, I ain’t what I ought to be. O Lord, I ain’t what I’m gonna be. But thank you, Lord, that I ain’t what I used to be.
You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. (Romans 8:15-19)