Gateway Worship’s “Alabaster Jar” by Zach Neese, A Perspective
Written by Zach Neese
When I write a song, I begin in a moment with God, a gem of truth, and a cry that the Church needs to learn to vocalize. Alabaster Jar is a moment in the life of a person who remains at the feet of Jesus. The truth is that worship is not something we simply sing, but it is an attitude of the heart that motivates the actions of our lives. The cry is the chorus, “Here I am. Take me as an offering. Here I am giving every heartbeat for Your glory.”The title refers to the sinful woman in Luke 7 who anointed Jesus’ feet with oil and tears and wiped them clean with her hair. I understand that woman. When you have been pulled off of the dung heap where the world casts aside its used-up, worthless garbage you cannot remain unmoved. This woman permitted God to move her. And when she moved, it was an all-out act of worship; selfless, pure, extravagant, even embarrassing to the religious establishment. It takes a heart that has been wooed by forgiveness to love that deeply. She bowed at His feet and poured out the wages of her past - everything she was. She poured out the security of her future - everything she could ever afford to become. She even poured out the tears of her broken heart and laid bare the wounds that they had pooled in. Then this amazing woman loosed her glorious hair and used it to wipe Jesus’ filthy, neglected feet clean. She used her glory as a dust rag to serve Christ.
Her actions more eloquently expressed gratefulness than any words she could have spoken. That is worship. Worship is not lip service, but the grateful response of a heart that has been won by mercy (Romans 12:1).
That is how I want to live. God is worthy of nothing less.
I wanted to take a couple of excerpts from this bulletin on MySpace from Gateway Worship on their new album, Wake Up The World, which is released this week nationwide. Lyrics, tabs, chords are available for download at Gateway Worship. A muxtape will accompanying this series of perspectives. - Ed.
No Comments, Comment or Ping
Reply to “Gateway Worship’s “Alabaster Jar” by Zach Neese, A Perspective”