Play or Practice?

Endurance. Perseverance.

These are two words that are not too popular in America, today. The thing is, for those of us that follow Christ, these words are fruits of true faith in Christ. When Jesus walked the earth, He taught that when persecuted it would be "By your endurance you will gain your lives." (Luke 21:19) Also, the writer or Hebrews speaks of God's disciplining us to be like Him this way. "It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all children have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." (Hebrews 12:7-8) This endurance is somewhat passive, in that it is the ability to submit to a process that is outside of ourselves.

As for perseverance, the Random House dictionary says, "Perseverance commonly suggests activity maintained in spite of difficulties or steadfast and long-continued application." James, the brother of Jesus agrees. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves...the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James 1:22, 25) I must quickly refer to how we "do." It is only through the power found in a totally dependant reliance on Jesus as the ultimate life giver (John 15).

As you read the next installment of Ron Bergthold's series, ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to endure and persevere in His strength as He completes His work in you.

~Jon


Play or Practice?
by Ron Bergthold

What’s the range of a tuba? (Answer: About 20 yards, if you practice and have a good arm.)

“Can we run it again?” The director was asking those words to the entire orchestra, but his eyes were specifically searching the brass to see whether they really had enough lip to get through the chart again. In reality, the end had already come and gone. Being September, many had taken at least a few lazy weeks off during the summer and their endurance was not yet up to par. Not that par was really great! Playing in a church orchestra was fun and rewarding, but to build endurance meant practicing, which is really just for those still learning to play or for those who earned their living by it, right?

Paul encouraged the Galatians (vs 6:9) to “…not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Given their considerable trials, it is understandable that the Galatians were ready to give up. We all have experienced fatigue and reached our physical limits. We simply cannot play one more note above the staff or move another finger. At that point our joy of playing dissipates and we give in by giving up. We come to this wall in other areas of our life as well. We cannot continue speaking without adding a cynical, harsh or gossipy word. Or stop without taking one more look, spending one more dollar, or stepping where we know we shouldn’t.

Paul advocated the concept of spiritual practice – a disciplined obedience, sown in partnership with the Holy Spirit over time, to reap an otherwise missed benefit. One of those benefits is an endurance which takes us farther or higher than we have ever gone before. But we often seek an easier path, arguing more for the selfish and short-term: “No one’s perfect; even the pros miss notes.” “I have my other full-time job to do.” “It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to perfect me.” “I am actually free from my wrong notes – they are silenced by the blood of Christ and never even reach His ears.” We can spend more time justifying not practicing than doing what would actually help.

We have all heard friends naively wish they could simply pick up an instrument and jam, or ponder what it would have been like if they had just continued those piano lessons. They do not consider the awkwardness and difficulty of starting out, or the hours, months and years of practice that eventually yield to the joy of discovering new levels of playing.

We know better. We know that private preparation and practice impacts public performance. We know that endurance for the more difficult pieces comes only after considerable investment of time and effort. We also know the rewards that follow and the joy it brings, as well as the never-ending opportunity for further improvement.

God describes many rewards of a practiced Christian life – of consistently yielding to the Holy Spirit and submitting to the Word of God. With each act of obedience, God reveals more of Himself to us, which encourages us to take the next step, all the while building an endurance of love and character to tackle the more difficult passages of life. God explains that we are His “treasured possession” (Ex 19:5) whom He desires to “bless” (James 1:25), so that we will “overcome the evil one” (1 Jn 2:14) and realize the “fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:15). He wants us to know Him intimately, like we know and love our instrument, but even more – much more. Have you practiced lately?

For the TRBC Orchestra on September 17, 2008


For more on this topic go to: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/37/