A day or two ago I was listening to my favorite XM station and one of Willie’s songs I’d heard several hundred times before caught my attention. The words, that I’ve sang along with by memory for as long as I can remember, caught my attention. And I thought to myself, “I need to write a little something up about that.”. The song, “Nothing I Can Do About it Now”, (click here to listen) is probably a testimony of Willie’s about some of the mistakes he’s made in his life. I think the reason it resonates, so, with me is ……it’s kinda my testimony too. And, truth be known, probably about 90% of the people reading this little blog can readily identify with it, as well.
Willie, whether you like him or not, will go down in history as one of the greatest country songwriters of all time. (I’m a huge admirer of songwriters!) Example: He wrote country classics, “Crazy”, “Night Life”, and “Funny How Time Slips Away”, all in a 24 hour period! Think about that one for a minute! And, again, whether you like him or not he’s already staked his claim on country music immortality. Generations after you and I are gone when anyone mentions “Willie”, everyone’ll know exactly who they’re talking about.
I first saw Willie in the ’60’s on the Wilburn Brothers Saturday afternoon TV show. It was a ritual in the Taylor household to watch country music on Saturdays. Willie was clean cut wearing a suit and tie and was an exceptionally good guitar picker. And he never really reached a broad following until the ’70’s when he donned the bandana and the braids. Armed with “Trigger” (his trademark guitar) he took on the ‘outlaw’ persona and literally millions of new, and younger, fans took note! And, as they say,…….the rest is history!
“Regret is just a memory written on my brow, and there’s nothing I can do about it now”. Like Willie’s song, most of us have a long, long list of regrets and if we’re not careful we’ll let those regrets affect who we really are and how we live out the rest of our lives. After the Lord rescues us we mustn’t let those blunders rule our lives. It just wouldn’t be right, considering what Jesus has done for us! Willie addressed that very thing, “And I could cry for the time I’ve wasted, but that’s a waste of time and tears” “And I know just what I’d change if I went back in time somehow, but there’s nothing I can do about it now”.
Can’t do anything about it; its true. But what we can do is not keep on doing things that we know will bring deep regret; quit making the same old mistakes. And if you’re a youngster reading this, let the song,….or these words, (or better yet, the Holy Spirit) steer you away from doing dumb stuff. Life’ll be a whole lot better for ‘ya!
And for the rest of us….that got that news too late, ….we’re forgiven! Willie’s concludes his song by singing, “I’m forgiving everything that forgiveness will allow, and there’s nothing I can do about it now”.
Check these out:
“I Keep A Close Watch On This Heart Of Mine”
