This week is a crazy, awesome week. Some in the realm of church call it Holy Week, others just know it as Easter weekend, with some even including Good Friday. We celebrate this week and weekend in so many different ways. Today I wanted to share a song and a celebration with you as part of what Easter means.
One songwriter and musician I have really looked up to over the years was Robbie Seay. He’s from the Houston area and deeply connected to the local church. For several years he has been one of the leaders of Ecclesia, a great church in the heart of Houston (http://www.ecclesiahouston.org).
What’s great about Robbie is that his songs and ministry come out of serving in the body of Christ. He’s not just out there trying to make a name for himself by writing songs. What he writes comes from the joys and pains of serving the Lord.
His latest album, “Rich and Poor,” released last fall, and has one of my favorite songs that I have ever heard called, “Cannot Have My Soul.” It’s a song about the pain of dying coupled with the joy of living forever with Christ. The chorus goes:
And if the devil wants to come for me
I will tell him to his face
You can have my body but you cannot have my soul
In the Heavens I will be
Singing songs of hallelujah
You can have my body but you cannot have my soul
No, you cannot have my soul
These few weeks around Easter our church has been focusing on the Resurrection, and why it is so important to us. Our pastor Michael has been preaching from 1 Corinthians 15, which is an amazing chapter.
When I hear this song by Robbie Seay, it brings me so much hope. It really makes me think of the joy of the Resurrection. One day these old broken bodies will be a distant memory as we are found in Christ in a body the way it was supposed to be. We’ll see our loved ones again. We will see our Savior and that unimaginable Love face to face.
Peter wrote great words in his letter of 1 Peter that shows our hope because of Christ’s Resurrection. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in Heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
May you take joy this week because we have a hope that is alive! Through what Jesus did through the Cross and Resurrection, we have a true reason to celebrate. May we never forget this, and may we never lose sight of our true hope.
You can see more of Robbie’s album “Rich and Poor” on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rich-poor-deluxe-edition/id493200510
Here is a video of “Cannot Have My Soul”
I’m a soul
With a body of my own
And there’s a time I’ll lay this body down
When I go
They’ll mourn for what is lost
They’ll rejoice for what is found
And if the devil wants to come for me
I will tell him to his face
You can have my body but you cannot have my soul
In the Heavens I will be
Singing songs of hallelujah
You can have my body but you cannot have my soul
No, you cannot have my soul
I can go
I can live beyond these bones
I can walk the streets of gold
Oh let me go, let me go
Let me live and breathe again
In the place that I have longed to know
And if the devil wants to come for me
I will tell him to his face
You can have my body but you cannot have my soul
In the Heavens I will be
Singing songs of hallelujah
You can have my body but you cannot have my soul
Oh, you cannot have my soul
No, you cannot have my soul, no
Singing songs of hallelujah
Oh, songs of hallelujah
Oh, you cannot have my soul
Won’t stop living
In your arms I’ll be
Living in the hope you leave
I’ll stop living in fear, you see
Living in the hope you leave
Dr. Douglas Matlock 