When you are learning piano - practice makes perfect. Usually, you cannot sit down and pound out the correct notes right away. You need time with the piano to learn its rhythms, to learn its sounds and feel. Or, when you join the football team, together, you must practice. If you don't, your communication will fail in times of need. You need time to learn one another's methods, to hear your coaches voice and to recognize the sound of the quarterback. And, a band must practice to insure harmony exists between its members. The band needs time to hear the correct music, understand what the scores are saying, to work together for the greater good. For without practice, we are often off-key, off-beat, playing the wrong notes, or simply missing our part. Without practice, we do not know what the correct sound or correct voice sounds like... we are unprepared for the real test - the game, the concert, etc.
In Psalm 5:2, David writes, "in the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." And, in Mark 1:35, we discover, "very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left his house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Every morning, David... requested from God, conversed with God, spent time with God. He had hours of meaningful practice, if you will, so that His relationship with God could grow. Jesus, the King of the universe, also spent meaningful mornings with His Father in prayer. He to put into place the practice of worshiping His Father.
The scripture specifically mentions how these two men arose in the morning to hear God's voice, to converse with him... to wait in expectation. Because Jesus and David were in a continual practice of hearing from God, they were able to recognize His tone and understand His commands when they were given both during the allotted time and throughout the day. If we fail to practice a daily quiet time, how can we discern Christ's voice from all the day-to-day noise? If we fail to practice a daily quiet time, how will we understand the Word when its read? If we fail to practice a daily quiet time our lives will be off-key, off-beat, playing the wrong notes, or simply playing the wrong part. A quiet time is key to a successful relationship with God and a successful life.
"Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters..." Isaiah 55:1
No comments:
Post a Comment