Few songs are as recognizable as Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. Its unmistakable beginning chords instantly make people start moving and even mimicking its famous and contagious guitar riff (I am sure that as you read this, it is playing in your mind). According to the Recording Industry Association of America, it is the biggest song in the land, having been certified 18 times platinum. It has been made even more famous because it was used for the intriguing ending of The Sopranos. It has earned its place as one of the greatest songs ever written.
What has made this song so famous and pervasive in America society? It’s a song about perseverance, about people who don’t give up on their dreams despite their present circumstances. It’s about a small town girl living in a lonely world and a city boy born and raised in South Detroit (mind you, there is no such place, but it surely rhymes) taking a midnight train to anywhere and living in a dim and gloomy world. And yet, they go on believing there is something better in the horizon.
The story behind the song is that its writer, Jonathan Cain, got the line from his father. He had called him to tell him he needed money. He then asked him if he should go move back home in Chicago because he was broke. At that point, his father answered with the line that became the title for the song.
I bring this up because, as we come to the end of Colossians, I believe this is what Paul is trying to convey to this church. As he gets to the final section of the letter, he says: “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (3:16-17) He further emphasizes this when he writes to Titus: “We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” (Titus 2:12-13)
In other words, . . .Don’t stop believing! Don’t let people come with other ideas and change your mind. Don’t go after other gods, other doctrines, other visions or other desires. Remember, that we have been raised from the dead because of what Jesus has done for us. Remember, we have new life in Christ. As we go through the buzz and the busyness of this Christmas season, let’s remember that! If you are discouraged, if you are having a hard time with life, let us remember the message of Colossians and hold on to that feeling.
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