Who Are You?

From author

Wade J. Carey

“a unique brand of Christian fiction”

Ephesians 2:10
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do”

This week’s THEOLOGICAL FOCUS is on OUR PURPOSE

It’s been a spell since my last post—many apologies. The holidays hit and I’ve also been working on freshening up all 7 books, both print and Kindle. That should all be done in the next couple of weeks. I’ll also be re-launching my author website under a new name – www.wadejcarey.com. Please stay tuned!

Okay, I have something on my mind I need to share. First off, I love classic and progressive rock + cool jazz. I know I’m getting old when I find myself hating most of today’s music. So, with that in mind, today’s subject is simply this—WHO ARE YOU? For those who immediately think of the old Who song of the same title, I’ve included a link below so you can satisfy that itch without having to search. I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane.

But it’s actually another old rock song I wish to zero in on for this week’s subject of “Who Are You?” This song has been my favorite song of all time for many decades now. It’s “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” by Elton John. The song is a blockbuster of great mood swings and terrific musicianship. “Funeral For A Friend” truly moves my soul.

So what does that have to do with who each of us are? Simply this. I happened upon a brilliant line today in a movie trailer for the upcoming Elton John bio movie titled “Rocket Man.”  The line was by a character talking to Elton John about his troubled childhood and uncertain future. It’s packed with a lot of discussion potential, so I wrote it down immediately. Here it it:  

“You gotta kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you want to be.”

While it’s true I haven’t seen the movie, it’s meaning was pretty apparent. Soooo, as I normally do with the arts, I ran this through a biblical filter to see if it stands up to what Jesus Christ has to say. What I discovered was that this humanistic sentiment actually is directly opposite of what the Lord wants for us. That’s often the case because God’s way stands in direct contrast to the world.

Think about that move quote for a minute. At first, it sounds absolutely wonderful to the human side of our soul.  We want what we want because that’s how we-humans roll. However, anything that points us merely towards ourselves is the slipperiest of slopes. In fact, when we indulge our innermost desires, it’s often to the exclusion of God. Yup, that’s not good. 

The devil is clever. Very clever. If you want to know what God says about something, you can often determine this by switching humanistic statements to the direct opposite. In the case of this seemingly benign line—which absolutely allows someone to do whatever they want, even if it excludes God’s plans for you—then it’s easy to see how you can be departing God’s will without even knowing it. 

To illustrate my point, let’s turn that movie line around and see if it fits the biblical worldview:  

“You gotta kill the person you want to be in order to become the person you were born to be.”

Bingo! That’s the ticket. Now, read the Ephesians 2:10 passage above once again. 

God created each of us to serve his kingdom as sons/daughters and stewards of creation. This life isn’t about what we necessarily want to be at any particular time, it’s about what God made us to be. So when you hear the refrain “Who are you?”, I challenge you to think about the good works God made for you to do before He even created this world.

God allows us the freedom to choose to serve ourselves, but this is a road to nowhere. It most certainly ends at death’s door. I encourage each and every one of you to seek out HIS will for your life. It may not be what you expected. 

For myself, I never dreamed of writing books. Writing wouldn’t make my top 25 favorite things to do. However, once the calling came, I recognized it as what I was born to do. I know that God wants the same for each and every one of you. 

Have a great week!
Wade

 

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