Don't hold your breath - Nicole Scherzinger

I keep hearing this song on the radio, and I've been meaning to write a blog about it for some time, but have only just got round to it. Don't hold your breath is the latest song from Nicole Scherzinger, and is very catchy. We're used to love songs in the charts, people singing about how much they love someone and are unable to so anything without them, but we're not as used to hearing songs like this, about some kind of break up. The song starts with the chorus:

You can't touch me now
There's no feeling left
If you think I'm coming back
Don't hold your breath
What you did to me
Boy I can't forget
If you think I'm coming back
Don't hold your breath

 and the verses explain some of the stuff which has lead to such a strong sense of rejection. It's pretty clear that Nicole doesn't want to be in relationship with this man. As I kept hearing this song, I also kept thinking about Luke Chapter 15. This is a great chapter in the Bible, and one of my favourites. In it, Jesus tells 3 parables (stories) about being lost and then found. The 3rd of these is most commonly known as the prodigal son, or lost son. Here it is:

The Parable of the Lost Son

 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

   “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

   “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

   “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

   “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

   “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

   “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

   “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

   “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Simply, the parable Jesus tells is of someone completely rejecting his Father (God), wishing he was dead, wanting his inheritance early so he can get the most out of life. However, he blows all his money, and ends up feeding pigs. Realising his mistake, he practices and practices his apology, and goes back to his Dad. I'm sure the walk would have been slow, as he keeps working out exactly what he will say. He realises he is no longer worthy to be called his son, but just wants to work for him. The amazing thing is that while he is still a long way off, the Father sees him, runs out to meet him (probably embarrassing for an old man!), throws his arms around him and welcomes him back as a son.
Scherzinger sings of grudges, and holding things against others. God forgives us. He loves us so much that he forgives us, and welcomes us back into his arms, and into his family. We don't deserve it, and it's only by grace, a gift from God.
God does not say to us, "Don't hold your breath" to us. His arms are always open for us to come back to him.