Interpretation

Now I want the water to wash away all my sins The wind to blow away my thoughts without meaning The fire to burn away my thickened skin

Dance of Fate by Epica is a fantastic song. The music is amazing, and that is why I've listened to the song as many times as I have. However, I was reading the lyrics to this song and I was struck by the Christian elements these particular lines have.


Knowing that Epica is not a Christian band, I've never really tried to interpret their lyrics. I listen to them for the music alone, not for what they're singing about. Yet now I realize that, even though they are not Christian, their lyrics still hold a good deal of truth.


Now I want the water to wash away all my sins...

Are we not to be washed with the water of regeneration? Do we not ask God, as the Psalmist does in Psalm 50:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"?

The wind to blow away my thoughts without meaning...

As humans, all of us struggle with this. How often do we think about absolutely nothing of consequence? I know I do it an alarming amount... And apparently God knows, too: “The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows they are futile.” (Psalm 94: 11) Should we not pray for God to blow away those "thoughts without meaning"?

The fire to burn away my thickened skin...

How easily we grow apathetic! It's so easy to look at the world around us through uncaring eyes... and even easier to look at the sin within us without any remorse or concern. Sometimes it takes the fire of suffering to shake us out of our apathy, so that we can see our sin for what it is, and so that our faith, "being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).


Just a few thoughts I had on this song...

Unknown Comments

I received two comments on my last post from an Andrew Clarke--this post is for him, if he visits again.

As a rule, I make a point of not "accepting," as it were, comments from people who I don't know. Generally, these comments are simply spam, so I don't make a big deal about them. However, since these two comments appeared to actually be legit, I thought I would address them.

The internet is a weird place. There are people there who most certainly do not have the good of others at heart. Now, I'm not saying that this is the case with the person who commented on my post. However, I'm merely explaining my reasoning behind deleting those comments.

You really can't be too careful on the internet, and that is why I always delete comments from people who I don't know. Therefore, Andrew, if you're still around, please understand that it's nothing personal--it's just my rule.

Failure

I've already failed at my "new beginning." In fact, that's what brings me to this post... Failure! As I pondered the fact that I've already failed to update my blog, I got to thinking about how we fail everything.

There is nothing that we do perfectly. Even when we do a phenomenal job on something, we still fail in one aspect or another. Maybe we do such a good job that we become prideful. Or maybe in the attempt to do something well, we lose track of the real point of what we're doing.

Mostly, we fail to give all glory to God. Even if we do perform perfectly in every aspect, the second we fail to acknowledge that it was only by God's grace that we were able to do so, we still fail. If we get so caught up in the moment that we cease to keep Christ ahead of us, we fail.

This seems like a depressing thought, but it really isn't. Although the fact that we fail to honor our perfect God perfectly may be depressing, the knowledge that His love for us is unchanging despite that is a wonderful thought indeed. Even though we constantly fail Him, He never gives up on us! All He does is give us chance after chance, and the strength to try again.

What a great God He is!

Please God... give me the strength to try again.