Because He Lives - the Gaithers

Life. It’s a cereal that Mikey likes, remember? Do you consume life the way Mikey does – with gusto, or endure it because you have nothing better to do? A form of that word appears nine times in the song ‘Because He Lives’, a rhythmic message that makes one wonder why the composer chose it. Bill + Gloria Gaither, the song’s composers, relate that this song was a celebration of birth – of their son Benjamin in 1970. It was also a reminder about life. Just months prior to Benjamin’s birth, the Gaithers were bombarded with one thing after another -- sickness, the breakup of Bill’s sister’s marriage, a depressing accusation of a friend, and drug abuse and racial tension in the surrounding culture. All these things are evidence of decay, of a disease that would make most of us despair about existence itself. How do we endure these things, and is it wise to expose others, including an infant, to them? But, maybe that’s why God gives us births to behold, because He knows we need vivid reminders of life and how miraculous it is, and of how great it will be when we all have the life that Jesus is living right now. That’s how we endure, and that’s why we take a risk to bring others into this life. The next time you whine about daily inconveniences, or worse yet despair about the more serious matters of your relationships, or your health or safety, try thinking about life, and especially about the glorious life that awaits you as a God-believer. Communicate that to others you meet, and see how that affects attitudes, yours and theirs, and how it might make others choose life -- now and for the future. Try emphasizing the words ‘life’, ‘lives’, ‘lived’, or ‘living’ in the song, and see if it doesn’t change how you live, at least in those few moments you spend singing the song. The apostle Peter writes about a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3). God’s life makes me able to hurdle the life here, especially when it taunts me that I’m mortal. You can link to the song’s story as written in ChristianityToday.com.  

or see it here:
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/terry_because_he_lives.aspx