Welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes!!! It is officially the first Tuesday of Fall, well unless you live in the South and then its the extended version of the DVD we are watching called, Summer - Friend or Foe? One meteorologist recently suggested that September is a mythical month this year as August seems to have gone into extra innings...
While it's still hot down here there are signs of fall none the less. Football is back in stadiums, (unless you are a Razorback fan and then its questionable as to whether we are seeing football...). Trees are beginning to surrender to the season commonly referred to as "my yard has put on the nicest shade of leaf of late, don't you think?" The days are getting shorter and it seems with a few exceptions our humidity has gone down. It is finally fall!
It is no surprise to Notes readers that Fall is our favorite time of the year. Even with the business that school beginnings bring, the thought could be thought that things might slow down just a bit. While it is only a fleeting thought to be thought, it is one worthy of dreams and the occasional salute by breathing slower as you drink a pumpkins spice whatever it is you like.
Fall brings with it the anticipation of many holiday peaks. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then New Years all happen within a 3 month period of time. With these seasons comes a giving spirit that seems to be more prevalent during this quarter of the year. Something that we should all strive for year round is permeated and amplified through the months of October, November, and December. It seems there truly is the idea that at THIS time of the year one must give to live...
Sammy Hagar has been around as a musical influencer since 1973. At that time he was in the band Montrose and saw the release of 2 albums with that band. Since that time he has been a major player on 25 albums. 12 solo albums, 4 albums as the lead of Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas, 4 records with the brother Van Halen (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Right Now", Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Dreams"), 2 platters with the super-group Chickenfoot (Hagar, Michael Anthony (Van Halen) Joe Satriani, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and 1 record each with his new band Sammy Hagar and the Circle (Vic Johnson, Anthony and Jason Bonham (John Bonham's (Led Zeppelin) son), and super-group Hagar, Schon, Aaronson, Schrieve (HSAS) (Hagar, Neil Schon (Journey (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)")), Kenny Aaronson, Michael Schrieve (Santana (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Evil Ways").
In his 71 years of life (yep, you read that right, Sammy is 71) and his 46 years in the music business, The Red Rocker has seen it all. Bands coming and going, successful business ventures, authoring 2 books, including the best selling biography, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. (His other book of all things was a cookbook: Are We Having Fun Yet: The Cooking and Partying Handbook) He's seen 4 children born and generations of adoring fans come and go.
"Give to Live" was one of 2 singles released from I Never Said Goodbye. It topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1987. The song was also performed as a part of Van Halen's subsequent tours.
"Give to Live" took a more insightful tone for Hagar than some of his other solo fare. It touches on heartache and the need for one to give love to get love, a sentiment rooted in a foundational book of which we should be more familiar.
In the second half of Genesis 14, God shows Abraham what it means to give to live. Abraham had just rescued Lot from the war between factions of the land and was returning home. He gave his personal resources and sacrificed the lives of his servants so that Lot and his family, as well as some of the other inhabitants of Sodom, could live. Abraham then encounters the King of Sodom and the King of Salem (what would become Jerusalem), Melchizedek. These kings wish to reward Abraham for the rescue of their people. You can read more on this encounter here: Genesis 14:17-24 New American Standard Bible/The Message Paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel
The short and long of it...Abraham would not take anything from the kings that could potentially be seen as the enriching himself from other parties. He would only take what his men had already eaten and used in the battle to return those who had been taken prisoner in the war. The Kings misunderstood what give to live meant. While their intentions may have been honorable, Abraham did not want to be seen as getting anything from them. His wealth and resources were to only be attributable to God and his own hard work. He understood that rewards were only for those whom God chose to bless and those who worked hard. No one, but God would receive the credit for Abraham's wealth.
In our western culture, some of the work ethic apparent in Abraham's life appears to have gone by the wayside. But as we see in today's passage, this Biblical principle asserts what should be the mentality that those who are able bodied enough should work for the resources they wish to gain.
Please do not misunderstand. I believe in helping folks who cannot work or have found themselves on hard times. I wonder however if the church and believers have bequeathed that role to government. I believe I remember reading someone say something about the care of orphans and widows...somewhere...
Generosity seems to be out of vogue of late. I don't mean to say that those with wealth don't give, I question their motives however. It seems that generosity even among believers is not what it could or should be. If it were, the aforementioned government programs would not be necessary. Oh for a few widows with a mite to give...
Abraham took care of his own. So much so, that he went into the middle of a war to rescue a nephew. How many of us can say we are that tight with our brother's/sister's son? Abraham saw a family member in need and he determined to take care of it. Regardless of the choices said family member had made. Are we that compassionate with our own family...friends...coworkers..
God rewards Abraham for his give to live attitude. How? You'll have to read next week to find out...Only at your source for Musical Musings on Messianic Messages...aka Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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