“Can anybody find me somebody to love?”

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Freddie Mercury wrote a song about faith, desperation and soul-searching when he wrote “Somebody to Love”. In this song which was featured on the English rock ban Queen’s 1976 album “A day at the Races” he questions the lack of love experienced in his life and the role and existence of God.1 Cited still today as one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music, he was known for his vocal prowess and flamboyant performances as a solo artist and as lead vocal and co-founder of Queen. On November 24, 1991, he died of bronchopneumonia which was induced by HIV (AIDS).

For many years in the early ‘70s, Freddie Mercury lived with Mary Austin in a long term relationship yet by the mid ‘70s he had began having an affair with a man which broke up his and Mary’s relationship. Although Freddie Mercury said  after the breakup that he considered Mary Austin as his only friend, common-law wife, that being with her was a common-law marriage to him, he fell to temptation and had an affair on her. Not just a regular adulterous affair, he had an affair with a man which lead him to fall further to temptation in his frequently visiting homosexual bathhouses and clubs where he had frequent short-term homosexual sexual partners.2

Freddy Mercury’s failure to overcome the temptation to be with men sexually spurred his breakup his self stated common-law marriage to Mary Austin. His succumbing to temptation lead him further and further into a downward spiral which eventually lead him to contract HIV which became full AIDS and bronchopneumonia. The temptation that Freddy Mercury chose to partake of was what lead to the cause of his death.

Due to the timing of its release, my thought on the reason for Freddy Mercury’s writing the song, “Somebody to Love”3 is that he was truly soul searching; reaching deep within his being and trying to come up with an answer on his own for the temptation he was experiencing which he would eventually chose to follow. Not truly believing in God, he mocks God in that he states that he has believed for many years though in his question of “Can anybody find me somebody to love?” he is not displaying any faith in God and God’s perfect love for him. Freddy Mercury in the song says that he “works hard” showing that he did not understand that it is not by works but by the grace of God that one is saved. He goes on to say that he has to get out of “this prison cell” and that some day he “will be free” which I think he was eluding to his breaking away from following the will of God and that Freddie Mercury was choosing to go with his temptation following his own will.

So where did Freddie Mercury go wrong with his questioning the lack of love experienced in his life and the role and existence of God? I think he made a number or errors of judgment in his doing so and it started with his lack of wanting to learn the truth about God. If he had done any study of the Holy Bible with an open mind, he would have learned about God’s love for him. Now I do not know if Freddie Mercury at the time of writing this song (or even before or afterwards) had done any study of God’s holy word or not but it seems to me that if he had done so, he either did not do it with an open mind OR he chose to not accept it. For your sake, I pray that you make a wise choice and study with an open mind God’s holy word.

If Freddie Mercury had opened his mind to the fact that God loved him as stated in 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us., Freddie Mercury could have felt the love God has for him. It is our choice in freely accepting God’s love for us as a gift that God has given to each of us even though we do not deserve His love. God does not force His love upon anyone as doing so it would not be love. Once we choose to receive God’s love for us, we feel His perfect love for us and know that He is always there for us and know that we can trust Him. Freddie’s primary mistake (at the time of this song) was that he did not accept God’s love for him nor did he trust God and therefore he did not feel God’s love for him. Without God, there is no love because God is love. 1 John 4:8 – The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Not accepting God’s love for us causes us to be vulnerable to detrimental temptations; which we know as fact that Freddie Mercury had fallen to temptation in his life.

With study of God’s word, Freddie Mercury would have known that it is not “works hard” that one gets closer to God. Getting closer to God helps us to not stumble and fall to temptations and it comes by our faith in the grace of God alone and not by our works as we find in Romans 9:32 – Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

If it were by works that someone could get closer to God, we (you and me) would naturally brag or at least think that we were better than someone else because we “worked” harder or longer or faster or more, etc. because we like to compete and measure ourselves against others. Competition between us does not get us into a closer relationship with God. It is our choice to accept God’s gracious gift of love (Jesus Christ) Whom He has given to us that we choose to place our faith in which gives us a closer relationship with God.

If it was anything but a gift from God for us to obtain closeness to Him, it would be our works and as we read in Romans 11:6 – But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. Also, note too that us following the law does not get us closer to God either as told to us in Romans 3:28 – For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. If Freddie Mercury had thought about it for a moment with an open mind and accepted God’s holy word, he would have known to place his faith into God’s grace and not his own personal works. Please open your mind to God’s grace and place your faith wisely into Him.

The fatal mistake Freddie Mercury made was that he took on his temptation with his own abilities and understandings without God’s infinite knowledge and strength to help him overcome it. We know from James 1:14 – Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. That’s right, each time we are tempted to do something it comes from our own desires to do it. Think about it; have you ever been tempted to do something you did not have a desire to do? I’ve not. Every time that I’ve ever been tempted it’s been with something that I would want to do yet something that I shouldn’t do.

Here is something more to think about, have you ever been tempted when there was no way for you to not do what you were tempted to do? No, there is always a way out from any temptation you encounter as it is your choice to do it or to not do that which tempts you. Mainly most often the way out for us is telling our self, “NO!” Also, God has made to us a promise found in 1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. If we accept this promise given us from God, He will give us the strength to overcome temptation when it comes and will show us the escape route for us to leave the temptation behind us without our falling to it.

Note that God did not promise us that we would not have temptations but that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to overcome and endure. This means that we will be tempted by something or someone and at sometime sooner and later. Knowing God’s promise to us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is comforting to me because temptations are all around me and I call upon God’s strength to overcome them on a daily basis and He has never failed me and I know that He never will fail me.

Temptation does not come from God as we learn in James 1:13 – Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. Temptation comes from Satan as we learn in Luke 4:13 – When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him [Jesus] until an opportune time. Satan knows our weakness and we need to keep ourselves watchful to guard our weaknesses as told to us in Mark 14:38 -"Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Knowing now that God loves you and does not tempt you and that He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle and that He always gives you a way to escape from your temptation, you can overcome your temptations and not fall to them if you place your trust in God and look for, find and use the escape route He provides to you so to avoid the destruction that falling to temptation sooner or later brings to you. To have God’s strength to overcome your temptations, you only need to choose to accept His perfect love for you by placing your faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus.

Make a wise choice as it is only your choice to make and you only get to make it while you live upon this earth. Not making a choice today is making the choice to not accept God’s love for you. It is your and only your choice to make and I suggest that you choose wisely and that you do so right now.

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1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_to_Love_(Queen_song)

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury

3) NOTE: The website providing the lyrics below is LyricsMode.Com
Finding Truth Today has no affiliation with this website nor its contents.


Lyrics | Queen lyricsSomebody To Love lyrics

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