Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14
Bob Dylan has had a long and successful musical career. Some would say that he is one of the greatest songwriters ever, with albums such as The Times They are a-Changin’, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. When he burst upon the scene in the 1960’s he was looked upon as one of the icons of counter-culture.
To date, he has released 39 studio albums, spent countless days, weeks and months on tour and picked up hundreds of awards and nominations for his music. In the middle of that run of albums, at the end of the 70’s and beginning of the 80’s, he released 3 albums which expressed his new born-again Christian faith. He spent time on a three-month discipleship course with the Vineyard Church and from that the albums Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love were written.
The middle album, Saved, was almost pure gospel, with very devotional songs, and the sixth track was Pressing On. Of all the songs from this phase of his life, Pressing On has always received the most critical acclaim. With influences from John 6:30 and Luke 15, it is the passage from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians that takes centre stage. It also becomes an interesting song to focus on in Lent with the enigmatic line: “Temptation's not an easy thing, Adam given the devil reign, Because he sinned I got no choice, it run in my vein.”
Lent is the time when the enormity of our sin bears down heaviest upon us. Perhaps we have an undue amount of time reflecting on this – the paradox of how Jesus overcomes temptation, and yet we so easily fall to it. But the good news is we are saved, that Jesus has rescued us from our temptation and sin, that there is no need to constantly look back, but simply to keep on pressing on. Sounds like a plan.
Well I'm pressing on
Yes, I'm pressing on
Well I'm pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.
Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind,
Say, "Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign."
What kind of sign they need when it all come from within,
When what's lost has been found, what's to come has already been?
Well I'm pressing on
Yes, I'm pressing on
Well I'm pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.
Shake the dust off of your feet, don't look back.
Nothing can hold you down, nothing that you lack.
Temptation's not an easy thing, Adam given the devil reign
Because he sinned I got no choice, it run in my vein.
Well I'm pressing on
Yes, I'm pressing on
Well I'm pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.
Songwriters: Bob Dylan
Pressing On lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Neil Chappell
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