The Way I was Made

I was listening to the radio today, and heard the song "I want to be the way I was made" by Chris Tomlin. I've heard that song before, but today I really listened the chorus.

I want to live like there's no tomorrow:
Do we live that way? Do we live our lives as if we have all the time in the world? Or do we make the most of the time we have been given, not expecting an unlimited future?

I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
We were in a circle during a church retreat a few weekends ago. Our outgoing pastor and our incoming pastor were serving communion, working their way around the circle. It just felt like the worship needed music, so I started singing (and happily people joined in). I don't sing; I can't sing. Singing like nobody's listening, to me, means that we sing with joy. We dance with joy. We play joy in God ahead of whether someone listening thinks we are any good or not. I have a feeling that as I have gotten older, I care less and less about other people's opinions of me.

I want to give like I have plenty
I think giving like we have plenty and loving like we are not afraid are related to each other. Do you think that sometimes we are less than generous because we worry that we won't have enough for ourselves? Do we live in a world of scarcity or of abundance? Do we act like it?

I want to love like I'm not afraid
I love that line. Loving family and loving friends places us in a position of vulnerability. We can be hurt. We can be rejected. Loving like we are not afraid is to ignore those possiblities, and to make ourselves vulnerable to the hurt of loving someone else. Why do it? Why take that risk? Because, to me, the joy of loving friends or family is so very much worth the risk. Read that carefully. There is certainly joy in being loved, but there is joy in the freedom to love someone else -- to give "agape" to other people, and I thank God I have that opportunity.

I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made
God has created us in his image, and that means that we are to live life and love others as he would do -- as Jesus did. I want to be the person I was created to be; to live into my God-given potential. I hope that I am reaching toward that in some small way, at least.