surprising to those who know me, I’m sure, but nonetheless true. Actually, my
main interests were the interests of virtually every kid at that age. I loved sports
and wanted very much to “be popular” among my peers. I don’t know exactly
when my interests became more “refined,” but I do know that by the time my
sophomore year rolled around, I was a full-fledged composer and had been
designated as the resident “Mozart.” This, as you can imagine, very much met
with my approval.
By the next year, I had written several pieces of music and carried them in a bag
wherever I went. I distinctly remember being unhealthily concerned about the
safety of those manuscripts. During the summer of my junior year, I attended a
camp for Drum Majors. On one of those days, I recall heading back to my dorm
with some of my friends. When we got to our building, the fire alarm was going
off and the fire department had arrived. Needless to say, I was frantic. “My bag of
compositions is in there!” That’s really all I cared about. It took a while for my
nerves to settle, and for my friends to convince me that everything would be all
right. I can imagine how dorky I must have appeared – but you have to
understand: one little fire or flood could have destroyed hours upon hours of
work spent in those compositions. Looking back, I realize how absurd that really
was, but back then, it was my life.
Since then, I have come to realize that although music is such an integral part of
my life, there are other things that must absolutely take precedence.
Deuteronomy makes reference to at least one of them. “Set your heart unto all
the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your
children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for
you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in
the land, whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it” (32.46-47).
The service of God and the teaching of His will practically consumed Jewish life.
Whether they were sitting down in their house, or walking along the way, or
laying down for rest, or getting up to start the day, the commandments of
Jehovah were to be respected at all times and in all places (cf. Deut. 6.3-12). It
was in this context of Deuteronomy chapter six that God said, “thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might”
(v. 5) – words to which Jesus later made reference in Matthew 22.37-40. As an
aside, some misguided individuals assume that loving God, which they conceive
of as a mere sentimental love, is all that is necessary to obtain heaven. Such a
view flagrantly ignores the context of what both Moses and Jesus were
endeavoring to affirm. Loving God demands doing His will (Jn. 14.15). And if one
neglects to do God’s will, then he truly doesn’t love God (Jn. 14.23-24) and
cannot therefore be saved.
That being said, three self-probing questions are in order: 1) Do I carry God’s
word around with me everywhere I go, like a bag of compositions? 2) Am I afraid
of losing or forgetting God’s word, again, like a bag of compositions? 3) Do I put
as much effort into keeping the words of God as I did with my music? We may
not think of God at all times, nor are we required to do so. But His will must
nevertheless fill our thoughts, so as to become our guide for all we say think and
do. Why, you ask? “Because it is our life.”
