Casting Crowns - The Very Next ThingSample

WHAT IF I GAVE EVERYTHING? [The video portion of this devotional is not available on your device. To view this video, visit your plan at www.Bible.com] Holding Back I wrote “What If I Gave Everything” on our new album as the prequel to “The Voice of Truth.” At first, I called the song “Still Standing Here” because the song starts with the question all believers face at one time or another: “Why am I still standing here? I know better. I know I should get moving.” It’s fun to enjoy the aftermath of going to the theater to see “Lord of the Rings” or “Gladiator” or any movie with epic battles. You’re sitting there in that huge moment at the end when the screen goes black, the coolest song ever cranks up, and the credits begin to roll. Suddenly, you’re ready to conquer the world. I like watching men leave the theater after those kinds of movies. They stand up looking stiff and walk down the aisle with their chests poked out like, “Excuse me, I can’t get my arms through the crowd because they’re so massive and stick out so far. I’ll just have to walk sideways down the steps.” All of us men are that way. We just sat on our butts for two-and-a-half hours, ate Starburst Minis, and drank a Coke, yet we act like we lived the movie we just watched. We didn’t do anything. We were the audience to somebody else’s adventure. But I believe those moments are evidence of our spirits shouting from within: “That needs to be me! That must be me!” I encountered those feelings over and over when I began to learn how to follow God and do the very next thing. It happened all through high school and college and even when I entered ministry. I couldn’t help but think, “Nobody in church is actually doing what they’re saying. It’s time. Let’s do this.” That’s why “The Voice of Truth” includes this lyric: “Oh, what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes…” It’s the cry of every man when it comes to wanting to be the hero. It’s the cry of every believer when it comes to wanting to live for Jesus. And it’s why you hear on “What If I Gave Everything” the simple question we all long to answer: God, what if I stopped holding back from you?