11 May 05 It May Be the Devil or it May Be the Lord

Wisdom is often found in unusual places. Take for instance the noble sages of the music entertainment industry.

Normally I do not go searching for wisdom among rock and roll icons. Normally wisdom is not found in these circles.

Though in this case, surprisingly, great wisdom has been found nestled within these lyrics of Bob Dylan:

You may be an ambassador to England or France;
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance;
You may be the heavy-weight campion of the world;
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls;
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Well it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re
gonna have to serve somebody.

He’s right. The thing is we all know he’s right. The other thing is knowledge alone does not seem to help most of us.

If I do not intentionally choose to serve the Lord I accept, by default, all the other choices. To not choose is impossible. It is not a viable option. To not choose means I have rejected the Lord and pledged my allegiance to another master.

Jesus said:

No one can serve two masters. The person will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches. (Matthew 6:24)

He’s right. I know what you are thinking. “Of course Jesus is right! What kind of preacher boy doesn’t know that Jesus is right!” The thing is we all know he is right. The other thing is knowledge alone does not seem to help most of us.

These words of Jesus, taken in context, relate to our obsession with possessions. Something fresh on my mind as I sort through the contents of my office (see yesterday’s post).

The underlying principle, however, is the same. We choose, that’s right we’ve been trusted to make our own decision, our own master. We have been given the freedom, Lord knows why, to choose what or who we will serve.

And choose we must. For, “. . . it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”