Hi there! Welcome to Tuesday and another edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes! This is the only place on the internet where popular music of all decades gets twisted and jumbled around to mean something absolutely different than what was originally intended. This is the only place on the internet to get to know things about your favorite musical creators with a perspective never dreamed of by those musical creators. This is the only place on the internet where you can see music videos as close to the original intent as possible AND not be bombarded by ads or programming that has nothing to do with music. Are you listening MTV?
May I be blunt? Tuesday's Musical Notes readers are a different breed of folks! They have high standards of musical tastes and are open to new ways of interpreting lyrics. They embrace ALL the forms of musical expression and they like to listen for that just-right riff, lick, or chord structure to provide a trip down memory lane. In short, to read Tuesday's Musical Notes, you gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser...
Written by the producer of the track, Ashley Ingram, and Des'ree, "You Gotta Be" roared onto the 1994 charts peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and staying on the chart for an impressive 44 weeks. The track proved so popular in late 94 and all through 95, it ranked #20 on the end of the year Billboard Hot 100 charts for 1995.
"You Gotta Be" also is one of the only songs to have multiple versions hit those charts. In total, 3 different singles of the song were released. The original single was released in March of 1994. The song was such a favorite on the radio a rerelease of the single occurred in February of 1995. Due to its use in a series of 1999 Ford Focus commercials, the song received renewed interest and was released in a remixed version which peaked at #10 on charts in the UK. ("Crowd" 1999 Ford Focus commercial).
The song speaks about how you must be flexible in your approach to the day and even more so to the entirety of life. There are times when you gotta be bad. There are times when you gotta be bold. There are times...well you get the picture.
We see this flexibility played out in many of the lives of heroes in the Bible. As we continue our journey, we look today at the entirety of the life of Samuel, the prophet.
"Listen as your day unfolds, challenge what the future holds, try and keep your head up to the sky..."
As we've discussed before, Samuel was given at an early age to the supervision and instruction of Eli the priest of Israel. This was done as the fulfillment of a promise made by his mother, Hannah. During his time with Eli, Samuel was called by God to be a unique servant. "...You gotta be bold..." From that point, Samuel was witness to some of the most prolific and sometimes horrendous events in the history of the Israelite nation.
"...you gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser...". Samuel was considered by many to be the last judge of Israel. While some of the previous judges we have encountered were more warrior and conquerer, Samuel found his role to be more of a judge in the terms we understand. This at times would find him being the "bad" guy to some as he judged disputes and told the people what God wanted them to do. As one who had a special relationship with God, Samuel's abilities to discern and guide the nation established his credibility and prominence as the nation continued its transition between the judges and having a king.
"...you gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger...". Samuel was also a prophet. This is the role for which most of Israel knew and related to Samuel. His communion with God was established at an early age. This placed Samuel as the one who would advise Israel in matters of religion and the nation's relationship with God. Given what had just transpired through the time of the judges, being a prophet to this bunch would prove to be challenging as well.
The Israelites had gone into the promised land and were now living among the peoples they had not conquered. This conflicted with what God had told them and now the intermingling with those folks was becoming an issue. While they were satisfied with Samuel's leadership, they denied God's authority as king and began begging for a king to rule them. Samuel warned against this attempt to be just like the surrounding nations (you know, their enemies!) and told them of the calamity that awaited if they relied on any one person rather than God. Even after the warnings, the Israelites continued to ask Samuel for a King.
"...you gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together...". At this point, Samuel shifts into permanent circuit preacher mode. God tells Samuel to pick Saul as king. (Oh yeah, more on this to come!) Samuel lays down the groove to Saul about how to be a good king and then Samuel then proceeds to traverse Israel as he fulfills all the roles to which God has called him. Samuel comes in and out of the Saul narrative at moments of Saul's vulnerability and disobedience to provide wisdom and guidance. Sometimes Saul heeds the mentoring, other times...not so much.
"...Herald what your mother said, read the books your father read, try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time..."
You see friend, Samuel's roles changed as God needed him to fulfill what was about to transpire. Samuel had to be flexible in his moods and attitudes as God called him to be judge, prophet, and preacher. Samuel couldn't have been one demeanor his entire life to successfully solve the puzzles God had ordained for him to figure out. Samuel at times was frustrated, but God equipped him with a variety of emotions and perspectives to overcome those frustrations and be obedient.
So what do you gotta be today? First and foremost, you gotta be bad. What? Aren't we all already bad? Yes, we are. We are bad and in need of redemption! So because of this badness, we gotta repent! This will chafe some of you as you don't like to be told what to do. However, it is the truth. We all will live forever. What your "forever" looks like depends on what you believe now. Jesus died so that your relationship with God can be as tight as Samuel's was. Jesus was buried and sealed in the ground. Jesus did not stay in that sealed tomb. He rose and was seen by many people after he had been in the ground three days. He told His disciples (those who believe) that He was going to prepare a place for them. Imagine what a place is like that is prepared by someone alive after being verified dead. Repenting means turning away from the bad stuff you do (you know what that is) and turning toward Jesus and His forgiveness.
Secondly, you gotta be bold. Upon accepting Jesus' forgiveness, your eternal destination is heaven with Him. This should excite us so much that we would want to tell everyone we know, in a variety of ways. Sometimes this manifests itself in a vocal witness, other times it is demonstrated by the magnetic love and kindness you show to others. Jesus said that the greatest commandments were that we were to love God and love everyone else (my paraphrase of The Gospel of Jesus according to the tax collector turned disciple, Matthew, chapter22:35-40 NASB/AMP/KJV)
Finally, you gotta be wiser. Your salvation is only the first part. Just like we grow from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, our spiritual walk, our journey with Jesus must grow as well. God has given us the entirety of the Bible to learn about His nature so we can emulate that in our lives. No, none of us are perfect, only God is perfect, but as a believer, we are to work as hard as we can to imitate God. This is challenging and can only be done by a constant appetite for God's Word and an intense love of God's people who mentor and guide us. (The occasional reading of Tuesday's Musical Notes might help too...)
All I know is that love has already saved the day. God sent Jesus. Jesus died for us. We must repent of our sins and make every day an attempt to become more and more like God. That will look different each day. But with God, we can be hard, we can be tough, we can be stronger. Other days will require us to be cool, calm and keep things together in the face of adversity. But like Samuel, we can have the faith to be whatever we need to be for the moment, because ultimately...love will save the day...
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving You,
randy
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