The Beatles: John,
Paul, George and Ringo. Always in that
order for some reason. Along the same
lines as Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, in the Beatles, John always gets to go
first and Ringo is always bringing up rear.
But here I am one sentence into the devotional, and I’m already getting
sidetracked. Anyway, Everyone knows the
Beatles. Everyone knows their
accomplishments. Everyone knows their
music. Most everyone knows their
story…the rise of the British invasion, the eventual split, and all the musical
genius that happened in the middle.
After the breakup of the band in 1970, John was murdered ten years later
outside his apartment. Fast forward
another 21 years and George Harrison succumbs to lung cancer leaving only two
Beatles. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr
(Richard Starkey his real name) are the last two surviving Beatles. I call them the bookends myself, since I
consider Paul the best and Ringo the least in my personal Beatles rankings…with
Paul only barely edging out George.
Yeah, I know…most people put John first or second, but this is my
devotional, and I put him third.
So here we are in the 2014. It’s been 50 years since the Beatles first
stormed the Ed Sullivan show. It’s been
44 years since the band broke up. It’s
been 34 years since John Lennon was murdered.
It’s even been 13 years since George Harrison died. Yet here we are in 2014, and all people want
to talk about with Paul and Ringo are the Beatles. “Tell us stories about the band.” “What was it like working with John?” “How much tension was there around Yoko?” (that’s
another devotional down the line) But I
heard a recent radio interview with Paul McCartney where he was asked about the
song he most wanted to be remember for.
Paul gave a very interesting answer, and his answer to the question is
what prompted this entire series. His
answer? “Maybe I’m Amazed”
Really, Paul?
“Maybe I’m Amazed” is the song you most want to be remembered for? That’s not even a Beatles song for crying out
loud! What about “Blackbird” or “Yesterday”
or “Let it Be” or “Hey Jude” or even “Helter Skelter”?! Nope.
He answered none of those. Now he
HAS answered which is his favorite Beatles song when asked specifically pick a
song the Beatles did (“Here, There and Everywhere”), but when left open-ended
to pick the song he wrote that he wanted to be remembered for, he picked
something he did after the Beatles?
And why do I harp on that? Because sometimes you don’t want to be
remembered for what you did a long time ago (more on THAT in a later
devotional). Sometimes you want to be
known for what you are now. Not all that
I am is encapsulated solely in what I used to be. I’m growing as a person – we all are. We’re different people than we were all those
years ago (we hope). As Christians,
we’re certainly striving to be better than we were years ago, and at least for
me when I think about how I want people to remember me I’m certainly not
picking something that happened when I was in my 20’s! Not only would I prefer to be remembered for
something that I’m doing now instead of something I did in my 20’s, there’s a
TON of things I did in my 20’s I hope nobody ever finds out about! I certainly don’t want to be remembered for
them! I’m sure there ARE some people who
will remember me for those things. I
think I’ve mentioned before that my mouth and my temper earned me the nickname
“Tourette’s” back in my college days. I
don’t want to be remembered for that – but I bet the guy that gave me the
nickname probably associates me with that almost immediately.
But even the good stuff like the flipcharts aren’t what I
want to be the high-water mark in my faith.
My wife and I used to put together flipcharts for the classes to use
back in my 20’s. But as long as those
have lasted, I like to think that my cheeky little devotionals are something
I’d rather be remembered for than the flipcharts. But given the choice of being remembered for
“Tourette’s” or flipcharts, I’ll take the flipcharts and move on. “Tourette’s” opens the door to remembering too
much anger, too little self-control, too little love for others, and too much
self-aggrandizing. “Hey, everybody, look
at me! Aren’t I funny the way I insult
people? Can’t I tell the funniest jokes
(just don’t repeat them at church! Hyuck! Hyuck!) and aren’t I just the
greatest little guy on the planet?!”
Yeah, that was me. So if it’s all
the same to you, I’ll agree with Paul that maybe what I want to be remembered
for is something I did a little later on than what most people probably remember
me for. Because there are a LOT of
people that I have known for the first half of my life that would be shocked to
know that I’m sitting here now writing devotionals like these. Because, yeah…I literally ran my sweaty
armpit down someone’s leg once – just for the shock of having done it. Yeah, we still go to church together – but no
I ain’t mentioning names! HA!
So let’s take this one a little farther and Listen for
the Whisper of Hebrews 8:12 or Hebrews 10:17 or even Isaiah 43:25. Where God remembers your sins no more. Turn your life over to Jesus. Ask for forgiveness. Repent and turn away from the sin. God doesn’t remember what you did before
that. Your sins are washed away in
baptism and remembered no more. God
doesn’t want to talk to you about what you did in 1964, or in 1970 when the
Beatles broke up or about what you did in 1980 when John was murdered or what
you said in 2001 when George died. He
wants to know what you’ve done since you accepted Jesus as the King of your
life. Your sins have been removed from
you as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). God’s not going to ask you questions from 50
years ago. He remembers them no
more. And if He remembers them no more,
neither should you – other than to learn from your mistakes to not repeat them. I’ve apologized about the sweat on the leg
thing…and again recently. It’s not
something I intend to do again…because I’ve learned from my mistakes.
Paul, Ringo – continually asked about the Beatles more
than 40 years after the breakup. Asked
the same questions over and again by people living in the past and judging them
on what they did 50 years ago.
Meanwhile, nobody can name anything Ringo’s done since then (outside of
a dumb movie named Caveman and voiceover work for Thomas the Tank Engine). And while the Beatles as a band are reported
to have sold 600 million albums, Paul McCartney has sold 100 million as a solo
artist. He wants to be remembered for “Maybe
I’m Amazed”. So what song do you want to
be remembered for? How about something
like “Amazing Grace”…that saved a wretch like me. Despite all that I did to all of the people I
did it to, God never gave up on me. He’s
used those times and those things in my life to make me what I am. And here I sit today typing a devotional that
is a culmination of all that I went through to get right here, right now. I once was lost, but now I’m found. We all can be remembered for that same
thing. God loves you. The you that you are now. Because the you that you are now is the only
you that can say, “I’m going to do more for God today than I did
yesterday!” Don’t dwell on the
past. To take a couple of famous songs
(one Disney and one Beatles) Let it go, then Let it be. Ask Jesus for forgiveness – no one comes to
the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
After that, don’t worry about what happened before. Don’t worry about “Yesterday”, just “Let it
be”…and then regardless of how long you’ve walked with God, say ”I’m going to
do more for God today than I did yesterday!”
~Dwayne
ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.nethttp://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com
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