| Tuesday, November 12, 2002 Meditation Luke 17:7-10 For years as a young girl I struggled with piano lessons. It seemed important to play the notes exactly as written and to follow all the nuances given in the notations. Mistakes felt like a personal failure. Being self-conscious, I kept my playing on a very private basis, except for required recitals.
My painful experience with the piano came back to me when my daughter began to take lessons. Unlike me, she progressed rapidly, and it wasn’t hard for me to see why. Her love for the music came from the heart and, though faithful to the composition, she had a flair for letting the music flow through her. The result was much sweeter than anything I had produced by my stilted adherence to every note and instruction on the page.
As servants of the Lord, we are invited to make music also—the music of loving service to the people around us. When we perform our duties only out of obligation, the effect can be forced and spiritless. But if we release ourselves into God’s care and become saturated with his love, he will set us free from the self-preoccupation that makes our life’s music so labored. As we spend time with the Lord in prayer, the warmth of his love softens our hearts and begins to flow through us.
Our call to serve God and his people is not a piece of music that we have to practice to perfection before performing it. On the contrary, we learn how to serve selflessly simply by serving selflessly. The melody becomes better every time we help our families, prudently work for peace in our neighborhood, or patiently listen to a friend in need. If we draw on the invigorating love of the Lord, our service will be far better than anything done strictly out of a sense of duty.
We are all musicians unworthy to be playing God’s hymn of love. But if we keep a balance of prayer and service in our lives, he will transform our weak rendition of his music into a song that brings his joy into the world.
“Jesus, you are the obedient servant of your Father through perfect love. Help me to know your love in my prayer and in my actions. Give me your heart, so that through me others may come to know your love.” |
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