The Bullet of Praise: Sing, No Matter What Your Voice
The older I get and the deeper I understand the wisdom of Scripture, the more open I am to truth, regardless of its source. All truth ultimately is from God. God’s truth is not limited to the labels of man. The more a man loves God and shows it, the less his label, heritage and bias seem to matter.
A remark from the late Pope John Paul I struck a cord of joyous response in my own heart. Listen to his words: “Some bishops resemble eagles who glide majestically at high levels. Other are nightingales who sing the praises of the Lord in a marvelous way. Other are poor wrens on the lowest bough of the ecclesiastical tree who only chip, seeking to offer some small though regarding the great themes. I belong to the final category.”
Right on!!! I know the feeling! Alone with God during the week I find my mind and heart literally exploding from the rewards of prayer and Bible study. I know that when my time comes to preach, I will strike with the force of an H-Bomb! But, alas! It seems that every time I preach all I can produce equals the force of a B-B gun!
Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ personally for what He really is … loving, forgiving, patient, joyful, truthful, tender, seeking … Shepherd, Savior, Master, King, Lover, Father … magnificent, wondrous, powerful, thrilling … all make me want to fill the earth with the beautiful praise song of a combined band and symphony orchestra numbering at least a thousand pieces and joined with a chorus of two thousand mixed voices!
Those of us who have experienced the authentic Christ yearn desperately for all the world to know His beauty and greatness and to love Him accordingly. But between wanting this and doing it is a great gap.
My greatest intentions to sound like a symphony for Christ usually deteriorates to the gutturals of a frog crock! Yet, far better to croak and get some of the message out than to remain silent. There are hundreds of folks around who are on the “croak wave-length” and will get the picture.
Be it the chirp of a wren or the croak of a frog, we little followers of Jesus must do something.
1 comment:
What is so good, H, is that although we are all too often pitiful at knowing His beauty and greatness and loving Him accordingly, God is infinitely fantastic at doing the same to us and revealing Himself to us.
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