I was curious when I saw a friend of mine pausing to smell and soak up the scent of some food on a stovetop. In my experience, he wasn’t the “stop and smell the flowers” kind of guy.
Later, I asked him why he was pausing to smell the food. He answered by telling me the story of how he lost most of his sense of smell. He had opened a somewhat ancient jar of mustard at a camp where he worked. The jar had been closed for a long time, leading to a buildup of mustard gas. The mustard gas burned his nose and throat when he opened it, drastically altering his sense of smell and taste.
As his nerves slowly regrew, certain smells and tastes returned. He used his abilities to experience the smells he could, not taking the experience lightly. I’ve never taken my sense of smell for granted, and I’ve become a little leery of using mustard.
My friend’s experience came to mind as I listened to Jonathan Traylor’s new song, Freedom in This House. The song opens with lyrics that connect our act of worship with our experience of God’s grace and power.
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“There's a praise that we release
There's an anthem of the free
When you know what you've been rescued from
Worship fills your lungs.”
Traylor connects our worship with our testimony as our experience of God’s presence fills our lungs to declare His praise. Just as Traylor invites us to respond to God’s goodness with worship, Revelation 4 describes the worship around God’s throne. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Traylor recently shared the story behind the song in a video posted on Air1 Radio’s social media channels.
“I wrote this song with a few friends of mine to inspire the believer to dance and sing in celebration of the freedom God promises us. John 8:36 tells us whom the Son sets free is truly free indeed. When we invite Jesus into the home of our heart, he comes in and breaks the chain of sin and shame and sets us free. So, freedom isn’t just a feeling - it’s a gift God has given us. It’s a promise. So let’s dance! Let’s sing and celebrate because we have a reason. There’s freedom in this house!”
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As I listened to Traylor inviting Air1 listeners to dance in response to God's gifts, I couldn’t help but think of how King David danced in 2 Kings 6. For many years, the Ark of the Covenant had not been in Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jewish nation. David finally brought the Ark into a tent in Jerusalem, where it would sit until David’s son, Solomon, completed the temple's construction after David’s death. The text says, “David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.”
Later in that chapter, David’s wife and Saul’s daughter, Michael, protested David’s dancing and undignified behavior. David responded without apology. “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!”
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Traylor dances and sings through “Freedom in This House” with lyrics that echo David’s attitude.
“There's a grave, where we used to be
Before grace changed everything
If you know that you've been born again
Come on say amen.”
The spirit of Traylor’s song also embodies Jesus' words in John 7:47, where a woman anoints Jesus with oil in response to His healing work in her life. Jesus teaches his disciples about the connection between love and worship, forgiveness and extravagance: “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
If your worship has been half-hearted or even anemic lately, is it possible that you’ve lost sight of all that grace has done for you? Have you forgotten where you were when you met Jesus Christ and His transforming power? Perhaps you need to reflect on what God saved you from to rediscover the excitement about what God is preparing for you in terms of purpose in the future. You don’t need to lose something you value, like my friend’s sense of smell, to cultivate an awareness of God’s goodness in your life.
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When you can say passionately, “There’s freedom in this house,” it’s not hard to engage in whole-hearted, full-throated worship. May Jonathan Traylor’s song, “Freedom in This House,” remind you of God’s work in your past and His plans for your future. May worship fill your lungs today!
Scott Savage is a pastor, author, and speaker with the best last name in the world. Scott’s writing helps people transform difficult circumstances into places where they can thrive. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona, and loves watching movies with his wife and three kids. You can begin Scott’s life-changing project, The 21 Day Gratitude Challenge, today.
