Bonus Day 62
Listen to the Music
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth). Ephesians 5:8–9
I heard this example once and it really stuck with me: Imagine you live in a house with both hearing and hearing-impaired people.
One of the residents, one of the guys who can hear, wanders into the living room, pops his iPod into the entertainment center, turns up the speakers, and starts rocking out to one of his favorite tunes. He’s snapping his fingers, tapping his feet, bobbing his head, and even clapping to the music — I mean, he’s into it, with a huge grin on his face! He isn’t even thinking much about his response — it just comes naturally.
Now let’s say one of the totally hearing impaired people walks in, sees this man, and thinks, “Now that guy looks like he’s having fun! I’ll do what he does.” So the second guy starts doing the head-bob, snapping his fingers, tapping his toes, and even plasters a smile on his face. But after a while he thinks to himself, “This isn’t very fun! In fact, it’s kind of repetitive and boring. But maybe it’ll get to be fun! I’ll just keep doing it!”
Now a third party comes into the room. This is a man who doesn’t live in the home, doesn’t know these people, doesn’t know even know there are hearing-impaired folks there. What does he see? Two guys apparently both listening to the stereo.
One seems a little grim, a little off-kilter. The other seems totally blissed out. What’s the difference? One’s just naturally responding to a song he loves and feels in his very soul. The other’s just mimicking the first guy.
See the point? A lot of Christians don’t really hear the rhythm of grace that should propel every response and underscore every discipline in the Christian life. They don’t hear the music. All they know is, “That guy seems like a godly man. And he does these motions. So I’m gonna do those motions too! Go to church! Memorize scripture! Study the Bible! After all, that’s what a happy, good Christian does. Even though just going through these motions is not much fun…”
To others they may even look like they’re doing the same “Christian” things as those who are motivated by grace, but without the same sense of joy.
We find out in Revelation 2 that this was where the Ephesian church was at. Dry. They’d lost their first love. They were doing the right motions. But they weren’t hearing the love song anymore.
If that’s your problem then you need to approach the Christian life in a different way. Your attitudes and actions need to be a response to the awesome grace of God!
Are you hearing the music or just going through the motions?
Do you think that everyone gets to points in their spiritual life where the music is hard to hear? If so, what should they do then?
Spend some time quietly “listening to the music” of God’s love for you in prayer. Perhaps just sit quietly for a few minutes. If you need input for meditation, try reading through the first chapter of Ephesians again. Choose one of the verses to memorize and repeat during your prayer time.
