NF is back and his new video to his new song Lost is, in my opinion, his best yet. I’ve watched dozens of Reaction Videos to NF’s music videos and many cannot figure out what NF is saying in these videos. Knowing that NF (Nathan John Feuerstein) believer and Christ Follower is helpful in interpreting his videos. There is a spiritual subtext to each of his videos and Lost is no different.
Lost starts out with NF wandering the snowy, haunting mountainsides of Colorado. Not a place you want to get lost. From the beginning, I thought this was a video about NF being lost in the mountains and it would be a good assumption, but I was wrong. More on this later.
NF starts the song by talking about pride and how it keeps him warm, but there is no joy in shutting everyone else out. Pride is one way to get LOST. Lost from what? Lost from faith, lost from others and lost from life. Scripture says,
One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Proverbs 29:23
NF talks about scarecrows,
All of us have made defensive scarecrows, that we scatter ’round our fields and treat like heroes
NF – Lost
Fear is another way we get lost. Fear makes us keep people at arms length. We’re afraid of getting hurt of getting screwed over, so we create scarecrows, warning others to stay away. Fear makes us retreat further and further into the woods to point where we don’t know how to get out again.
In addition to getting lost, the fear of knowing or thinking we are lost scares us even more. We feel the need to keep telling everyone, “No I’m ok, nothing to see here, I have it all together.” The fear of anyone knowing we do not have it all together keeps us lost. The solution to fear is confession. First to the Lord, then to ourselves and then to others. Honesty is the way out of fear. Scripture says,
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
In other words, as long as we keep lying to God, ourselves and others, we’ll stay lost spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
Jesus knows about lost things. He tells three parable one of a lost sheep, one is of a lost coin and the other of a lost son. In each case, the lost item was recovered. God has a way of sending out a rescue party when we get lost and far way from Him and the faith community.
NF raps that we are all searching for the serum, that will free us from a state of peril. Scripture says it this way,
All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
Romans 3:23
We all are sin sick and lost without Christ. Earlier I mentioned confession, Scripture says.
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9,10
Lie and you stay lost. Confess and you are found. The truth will set you free.
In this video NF brings his trademark black balloons back, absent from his last video Clouds. The black balloons are his burdens. He’s walking up the mountains with these burdens but where is he going or is he going nowhere?
In the video there’s a shot of NF walking up the mountain and in the distance there’s another set of black balloons, more burdens. But what are they doing way up here? Plot Twist.
The burdens are attached to another person, stuck (lost) on the mountain, covered in snow freezing to death. NF finds him, helps him up and takes him along with him.
Here’s me doing the breakdown on the video.
Enter Hopsin,
Wow, these burdens are heavy
– Hopsin, Lost
And I’m hopin’ it don’t bury me
This is everyone. Everyone wonders whether their faults, mistakes or sins will, ultimately, take them down. But Hopsin makes a classic human mistake when he says,
Look, I’m tryna wash away my sins
– Hopsin, Lost
The problem is, he can’t wash them away and neither can we. The only one that can wash away our sins is Jesus,
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I John 1:8,9
There’s that confession thing again. Confession is what brings us to being found. Lying keeps us lost. God is faithful to wash away our sins and mistakes so we can have a relationship with Him. Accepting what Christ has done for us on the cross is not a ticket to heaven but an opportunity to have a relationship with God and to live with a sense of purpose.
NF and Hopsin continue to walk and eventually come to a precipice where, Plot Twist, there are dozens and dozens of other black balloons, most likely attached to others who have gotten lost.
I love this part of the video. In the beginning, I was led to believe that NF was lost, and that may well be true; but what if in his honesty, his confession of lostness, he was out on that mountain looking for others who were lost as well?
This is the message to all believers, admit you’re lost, get found, find others. Jesus tells his disciples,
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Mark 16:14-16
In other words, you and I, were once lost on a mountain, freezing, carrying your burdens and I sent someone to find you. Now, go out and look for others with burdens and deliver the message I gave to you. Then the Father will say, as in parable of the lost son,
For this my son was dead and is alive again; was lost and is found. ‘ And they began to celebrate.”
Luke 15:7
Hopsin ends the song with,
This dark cloud, that’s my residence
Demons knockin’, I don’t have to let ’em in
I done made mistakes, day to day, you probably can’t relate
I just ain’t the same when I’m lost
We can and should relate to those who are lost because we have been lost. We understand the pride, fear and loneliness of being lost. We’re not the same when we’re lost. Loving others, especially when they’re lost, is a gift of grace, a grace God showed us and we must not withhold from others.
There are so many lost on the mountain with their burdens, let’s go find them.
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