Original Broadcast: August 2008
Monthly Theme: Gospel in Country Music
Country Song: "Long Black Train" by Josh Turner
[The serpent] said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
(Genesis 3:1)
Josh Turner’s first hit was the song “Long Black Train.” In one of the verses, the engineer’s said to be “makin’ you wonder if the ride is worth the pain … waiting on your heart to say, ‘Let me ride on that Long Black Train.’”
From the very beginning, Satan has been convincing people that true happiness comes in a world without rules, without boundaries, without cares. From the beginning of time, men and women have been falling for his lies. We see it almost all the time on television nowadays.
Satan makes life without rules and with “true freedom” seem so beautiful. Turner continues in the song, “That train is a beauty, makin’ everybody stare but its only destination is the middle of nowhere.” The “Long Black Train” of Satan seems so appealing, but it leads to nothing of what is promised.
The only person who ever gives you everything and exactly what He promises is Jesus Christ. He’s not flashy. “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). He was born to humble beginnings. But He promises heavenly rewards to His brothers and sisters who have been adopted by His Father in heaven.
His way has rules. His way has boundaries. His way has cares. But He is the one who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Amen.
