Behind the Songs: Keeping Time

I once auditioned a drummer who swore that the metronome I asked him to play with was “throwing him off because it was speeding up and slowing down.” This really has nothing to do with this post, except that it alludes to keeping time in a musical sense. I just thought that was pretty funny. On a side note, if you are a musician, practice with a metronome. It doesn’t matter if you’re a guitarist, bassist, pianist or drummer. Practice with a click track or a metronome. It will drastically improve your playing.

Music, Germs and Burglars
Years ago, I roomed with a guy who constantly worked. He hated many aspects of his job, and the hours he spent working revealed that his job was completely invading and controlling his life. When most people were hanging out with friends on a Friday night, he was at work. When he got home from work, we’d often talk about work. I felt really bad for him. I just wish he could break out of that pattern and “live” a little.

Workaholics are everywhere. In fact, I know I can be a workaholic when it comes to creative things. It’d be absurd for me to point a finger at my workaholic friend because I am guilty of obsessing over lyrics, arrangements, blogs, and even facebook comments. I’ve also been teased before because I can be obsessive compulsive. This is a little embarrassing, but I’m sort of a germaphobe and to add to that, I check to make sure our apartment door is locked and the stove is turned off at least two times before we go to bed each night. These are silly illustrations, but my obsessions go even deeper. I will admit I am obsessed with… you ready for this… it’s hard to admit… ok, here goes… I am obsessed with the temporary. I am so often consumed with the here and now. When I’m not sweating over today, I might be trying to imagine tomorrow or smear yesterday off of my mind’s stubborn dry erase board.

If you’re honest, I bet you’d admit that within the last 24 hours, you’ve been hyper focused on yesterday, today, or tomorrow. It’s human nature (ie. sinful nature) to put the temporary before the eternal. You may not be obsessed with work, music, germs or burglars, but I would guess that you too struggle with keeping eternity in mind in a world that worships the short-lived.

Losing Time, Keeping Time
The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that work (without an eternal perspective) is meaningless. In chapter 2, verse 22 and 23, Solomon concludes, “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.” It’s ironic that the more we acquire on this earth, the more worried we become that we will lose what we’ve acquired. There’s a line in Keeping Time which says, “The more we grab, the more we’ll find/We’re losing time keeping time.” The more we hold on to today, the more we waste today. Matthew 6:19 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We actually earn imperishable investments when we lose our lives for the Kingdom of God and for God’s glory. Luke 9:24-25 reads, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Some of us are consumed with our financial portfolio. Some of us simply want a carefree life with little responsibility or worry. Some of us care so much about our external appearance, but pay little attention to the unattractive condition of our own hearts.

Obsessed With A Speck On Eternity’s Line
We as humans have trouble imagining eternity. We are used to minutes, hours, days, weeks and years. Have you ever stopped to think about how your lifetime compares to eternity? If a single breath represents your life, consider inhaling all of the oxygen in the entire world. Now imagine inhaling all the oxygen that every human being has inhaled in the history of mankind. Now imagine if the entire universe was filled with oxygen and trees that helped to recycle the oxygen. Imagine inhaling a universe of oxygen over the course of the universe’s history. You can see where I’m going. Our lives are so brief in comparison to eternity.

How are you investing the fleeting moments of this life? Are you pouring into others or are you gathering fame and stockpiling riches only to step into eternity empty handed? Are you telling others about Jesus or are you distracting yourself with sport scores and social networking? Maybe you don’t even know Jesus? Maybe it’s time to look eternity in the eye and take a spiritual inventory.

Just like the drummer I auditioned denied the consistency of a metronome, we can live as if eternity doesn’t exist. Eternity is an absolute, and whether we deny it or ignore it, it’s still the underlying reality. Just as I need to daily refocus my eyes on the eternal, I encourage you to do so too.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Read the lyrics to Keeping Time here.

Other links:
Behind the Songs: Hanging in the Balance
Behind the Songs: More Than Broken
Behind the Songs: Shadows & Sunlight
Behind the Songs: Surfacing