Today's Scripture Reading (May 19, 2024): Acts 28
Have you ever
wanted to play an instrument? The desire to play alone will never make you a
musician. You must pick up the instrument and play it at some point. As a child,
I kept on changing instruments. My first instrument was the piano. I spent a
few years playing it but never had a passion for the eighty-eights (a piano has
eighty-eight keys). A few years later, I switched to the guitar. I loved to
play the guitar, but during my teen years, I was in a band in school with four
guitarists and no one to play the bass. I remember the day the teacher asked if
anyone wanted to switch to bass. I thought, why not? I switched to playing the bass
guitar.
For the next
few years, I played bass. For a while, I played nothing. Please don't ask me to
play piano; I can't. Oh, sometimes, on an afternoon when my wife isn't around,
and I need to know what a song sounds like, I will sit down at a piano and
plunk out the notes, but it isn't music. It seems I should be able to pick up
the bass and play as I used to, but I can't. I play occasionally, but nothing
comes out that is of the caliber as what I hear from our band's regular
bassists. Today, I spend most of my instrumental time playing my guitar. If you
want to learn the guitar or any other instrument, the best advice I can give
you is never to put the instrument in its case unless you are carrying it
somewhere. Leave it out where you will pick it up and play it as often as you
can.
Every Gospel
in the Bible ends with a rephrasing of the Great Commission, the command to go
and make disciples. Too often, we make excuses about why we can't go; God hasn't
gifted me in that way, or maybe I don't have time. However, the secret is never
to put your Christianity away. As you go, tell the story and play the music of genuine
Christianity. I love this summary of the Four Gospels versions of the Great Commission.
You can't keep the secret of the kingdom
to yourselves. I am now sending you, as the Father sent me, to communicate the
good news of the kingdom of God. Those who receive your message, form them into
learning communities of practicing disciples so they learn to live according to
my secret message, just as you are learning. You should not do this in your own
power, but you must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. And you shouldn't
stop at the borders of your own culture, socio-economic status, race, language,
or religion. Cross every border and boundary to share with all people
everywhere the secret you've learned from me – the way, the truth, the life you've
experienced walking with me.
The sad thing
is that we often forget the story and lose the melody. People have to rise up
and teach it to us once again. God repeatedly provides people like Paul, Martin
Luther, John Wesley, C.S. Lewis, and Mother Teresa to bring us back and help us
sing the melody of Jesus Christ one more time.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1
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