Empty Me
August 29, 2008
I’ve had just enough of the spotlight when it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood.
And I’ve tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You.
I’ve seen just enough of the quick buys, of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You.
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to You, compared to You.
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to You. So, I surrender all.
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You.
Oh, filled with You.
Empty me.
Chris Sligh, “Empty Me”
So it’s been a while since I’ve posted song lyrics…I try not to do it TOO often, but it’s been long enough, and I’m overdue. In any case, this is a song I’ve had on repeat for about…oh, the last week or so. Again, it’s one of those songs where the lyrics just grab you and won’t let go, and you realize that, yet again, God has used some other talented song writer to put into words what you just can’t quite get out of your own heart and onto paper.
I’ve seen just enough of the quick buys, of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away.
I have been there. I know what it’s like to be in the “greener pastures” on the other side of the fence, letting yourself be saturated with things that are not of God, things that will not last, things that you can’t take with you into eternity. Most of the time we use the phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” to mean that, no matter which side of the fence we’re on, the other side always looks better. That’s not always the case. When it comes to the “quick buys” and the “best lies”…once you’re in it, at least for a really long time, the other side doesn’t even enter your mind. It’s true that the things of the Earth are appealing. We’re human - we can see, touch, taste, feel the things that are right in front of us. And on top of all that, more often than not, we’re in the minority if we’re NOT interested in an immoral lifestyle. Once you’ve been enticed across the fence into the “greener pastures”, the lies start kicking in full force to the point where you don’t even remember where you came from or why you were there in the first place. But it’s futile. The things of the Earth fade. They wither. They shrivel up, and they die.
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You.
This has been my heart’s cry lately. I know firsthand how superficial the things of the Earth are. I know that in an instant, in the blink of an eye, in a single heartbeat, they can be gone. I want to emptied of selfishness, of anything that I might even consider doing in order to bring fulfillment to my own life, by my own means. God knows me better than anyone, and He knows exactly where I need to go in life, exactly what steps I need to take to get there, and exactly what will bring fulfillment to my life.
What’s 80 years of doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, when I know that there’s an eternity - forever - following that? What’s 80 years of doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, when I know that I am not only affecting my own life and destiny and eternity, but everyone around me as well?
We’ve all heard the term “think outside the box.” Sometimes this phrase can leave a bad taste in my mouth, when it’s tossed around by people who use it as a cliche that basically translates into, “do whatever you want to do and screw everyone else - I’m just ‘thinking outside the box!’” Last time I checked, there were no relative truths in the Bible - only absolutes. Truth is absolute. Either that, or it’s not truth. It’s watered down truths, mixed conveniently in with a few lies to make it look more appealing. These “truths” allow people to get away with doing things, believing things and saying things that, if they truly believed in the Bible, they would not be doing, believing and saying.
But when it comes to Christianity, and God, and eternity…we have to think outside just ourselves. The selfishness has to be omitted from our lives. I know youth pastors who don’t believe that having a drink every now and then is wrong or “evil”, per se, but they have made a committment to never drink a drop of alcohol, because they don’t want to take the chance that one of the kids in their youth group might see them. They don’t want to be a stumbling block. They’re thinking outside themselves, thinking outside of their own proverbial “box.”
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to You, compared to You.
Everything IS a lesser thing, compared to Him. Nothing besides Christ, and doing His will for our lives, will bring satisfaction - nothing. It’s emptiness. It’s a gaping hole in our lives, it’s superficial and worth nothing.
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to You. So, I surrender all.
I don’t have any doubt in my mind you’ll be able to succeed in your quest, Angi. God’s way is always the right way. As you alluded to, we humans just tend to have this nasty habit where we think we know our destiny better than He does. The song, “Jesus Take the Wheel” is cliche, of course, but the concept is spot on. We get so caught up in the superficial things of this world, by what we want out of our lives, that we often dictate to God what we want to do. And in the history of mankind, that has NEVER worked out. Surrender everything to Him and you can’t go wrong.
So, anyway, we’re all here to support you. We’re all praying for you. Just keep blogging so we can know what you’re up to!
Great thoughts. It can be really easy to get caught up in the world and so hard to disentangle ourselves from it once we’re there. We tend to be content with the best the world can offer, forgetting (and in many cases, not realizing) how inferior those things actually are. There is a quote but I can’t think of the whole thing just now. I’m sure you’ve heard it but I’ll come back and post it if I can think of the rest of it (and who said it because I don’t want to plagiarize all over your site).
Oh, that’s one of the contestants from American Idol, isn’t it? How nice that he’s getting such recognition in mainstream media. I like those lyrics. And I agree, God fills us up with love, even when we ourselves are empty and drifting.
Kev :: First of all, thanks for the prayers. Second of all, you hit it - we want to dictate to God, and that never works out. It’s one of those situations where we can either learn from history, or repeat history. I, for one, don’t particularly like repeating history…
Erin :: Disentanglement can be VERY hard. But talk about a burden lifting when you finally take the necessary steps to do just that. I hope you can remember that quote - now I’m interested!!
Marvin :: Yep, that’s the guy from American Idol. It is definitely cool that he’s getting more recognition. He writes most of his own songs, too - major respect for people who do that, it takes a LOT of talent to both write AND play your own songs!
I found it. Maybe you’ve heard it before because it’s not obscure or anything.
“Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ~C.S. Lewis
Erin :: I’ve actually never read that before. I really like that, though. “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak…” How true that is. God sees our own ambitions and goals and shakes His head, probably thinking, “If you only knew what I have planned for you…” Thanks for finding that!!