The country western hit Believe by Brooks and Dunn is by itself enough for a meditation, so I do not have much to add. The song was written by Ronnie Dunn and Craig Wiseman. It was released in October 2005 on the Hillbilly Delux album. Believe won the 2006 Country Music Association awards for the best single and the best music video of the year.
Listen to BELIEVE at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5z-jjWyAJQ&feature=kp
BELIEVE by Brooks and Dunn
Old man Wrigley lived in that white house
Down the street where I grew up
Momma used to send me over with things
We struck a friendship up
I spent a few long summers out on his old porch swing
Says he was in the war when in the navy
Lost his wife, lost his baby
Broke down and asked him one time
How ya keep from going crazy
He said I’ll see my wife and son in just a little while
I asked him what he meant
He looked at me and smiled, said
[Chorus]
I raise my hands, bow my head
I’m finding more and more truth in the words written in red
They tell me that there’s more to life than just what i can see
Oh i believe
Few years later i was off at college
Talkin’ to mom on the phone one night
Getting all caught up on the gossip
The ins and outs of the small town life
She said oh by the way son, old man Wrigley’s died.
Later on that night, I laid there thinkin’ back
Thought ’bout a couple long-lost summers
I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh
If there was ever anybody deserved a ticket to the other side
It’d be that sweet old man who looked me in the eye, said
[Chorus]
I raise my hands, bow my head
I’m finding more and more truth in the words written in red
They tell me that there’s more to life than just what i can see
I can’t quote the book
The chapter or the verse
You can’t tell me it all ends
In a slow ride in a hearse
You know I’m more and more convinced
The longer that I live
Yeah, this can’t be
No, this can’t be
No, this can’t be all there is [Chorus]
Old man Wrigley still misses the wife and son that he lost, but he is comforted by his faith in the promise that he will see them again in “just a little while.” He has that faith because he believes in the “the words written in red” that tell him “there’s more to life than just what I can see.” Although Jesus is not named in the song, the reference to him cannot be missed. In many Bibles, especially the older ones, all the words that were spoken by Jesus are “written in red.”
We often hear these days that “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere,” but you won’t find idea that in the Bible. The Bible makes if very clear that it does matter what you believe, and that you need to believe in Jesus.
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John 3:16-17 — For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 20:30-31 — Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
acts 16:29-31 — The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Romans 10:9 — If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
I Timothy 1:16 — But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
I John 1:23 — This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
I John 5:13 — I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
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THE ANCIENT JESUS PRAYER:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a poor sinner.