We Came As Romans- Mis//Understanding

Hey all, thanks again for reading today! Same as last time, I just want to give you a quick warning before you click the 'play' button on my video. If you're not a fan of hardcore music, hit the mute button on this one, because it's a bit more intense than a lot of my other music. The lyrics are included on the video, so you can just read along with it if you choose to do that.

Anyway, I was watching this video today because the band (We Came As Romans) just released this song in preparation for their new album in September, and I'm a pretty big fan of their music (their lyrics are amazing, in particular). But this song specifically stuck out to me today, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this. Have you ever felt like no matter what you do, it always ends up just making things worse than they were? Regardless of how you treat people, they treat you like the fool they take you for. Sometimes it just feels like we don't really understand this world, or that we don't even belong.

And that's really the truth about it: we don't belong here. As Christians, we're just sojourning here on Earth for the short years we have in this life. And though we get mistreated and abused, it's up to us to make the most of the time we have here. Luckily, we don't have to do this alone. Like the song says, we have each other to rely on when we're down, and God's always going to be there beside us to bring us through the tough times, even if it might not seem that way at the moment.

For those of you that know what's been going on in my life over the last month and a half or so, this song almost exactly sums up how I've been feeling, so I thought it would be appropriate to talk about today. If you're at the same place I am right now, take comfort in the fact that you're never alone there, and it doesn't have to stay that way.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus- Reap

(Just a quick disclaimer here: As always, when you read my blog and listen to the music I put on here, you're subjecting yourself to two things. The first is my opinion and my take on the world, but the second one is the lyrics and the style of the music, for better or worse. If you don't like what's here, I apologize, and keep checking back because what I'm blogging about today may be way different from what's up the next time, and so on.)



I don't really have anything fancy to talk about right now, but I felt like this song has been on my mind for a while. I've had an interesting few weeks since I updated the blog last, to say the least. My summer's beginning to get pretty busy already, with around 20 hours of work a week and my online classes to keep up with. And I've been dealing with what I don't know how describe any way other than as a small bout of depression or maybe just emptiness. The more hours I work, the more I learn, and the more responsibilites I get, the less I feel like I have to offer to anyone in any significant way, and it's been draining me of any real excitement I've had.

And that's where my song for today comes in. Galatians 6:7 says that "whatever one sows, that will he also reap". Whatever you put into your life is what's going to come back out of it eventually. If you go filling your life with garbage like drugs, alcohol, sex, etc., what do you think is going to come of that? You're sure not going to enjoy it later. The same can go for what may seem like innocuous things like work and responsibilities. If you let yourself be taken over by these things rather than focus on God first, they're going to take control of you and make your life miserable later.

As both the song Reap (the one you should still be listening to) and Mark 8:36-37 say, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" What good will it do you if you spend all your life working and slaving away in order to get ahead in this world if you trade away your soul in the process? Or how about the reverse of that even? It won't do you any good to just get by and waste your life on the ephemeral pleasures this world offers. It's what you do about your soul that matters for all eternity. I would never say that it's a bad thing to be ambitious, but never let that get between you and what's ultimately important, because it can only lead to emptiness. You can have the world and all it can give you if you want it, but beware you don't find yourself headed for that space in hell, as the song so kindly puts it.