Jan 20, 2017 – Matt 15
“These people honor me
with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matt 15:8
The measure of
worship is not just the volume of music from our mouths, it’s really more about
the chords of obedience from our hearts.
Like many mothers, I was taken to piano lessons as a young child
and required to learn how to play piano for 2 years. While it was not a terrible experience, it
proved to be very difficult and not something I enjoyed doing. (Years later, I now see the error of my choice to
quit.)
The first thing I really learned in piano classes was not
Middle-C, or the scale, or how to hold my hands. If I’m honest, the first important lesson
about playing the piano was that louder volume doesn’t necessarily mean better
music. In fact, louder volume and
hitting keys harder only accented more the LACK of music I was playing! Often I would find myself hitting keys
harder, as if by doing so my fingers would force the music to be accurate. It actually had the opposite effect, creating
terrible music and making the ears hurt when listening to it. In fact, the poor music was a distraction to
me as I played it!!!
Loud music is not foreign to God either. He knows well that volume of sound from our lips
doesn’t equate to harmony and accuracy from the heart. That’s why God doesn’t pay as much attention
to the sounds of our voices as He does to the heart singing them. He hears passion far more than pitch. His desire is to feel the rhythm of our
obedience, not the pounding of our false praises.
Great worship is far more than talented singing. Take
our church's worship director as an example. I thoroughly
enjoy her musical talent and love listening to her sing. She is recognized by
everyone as a great worship leader on Sundays. But her musical gifts
would be a resounding gong if it weren’t for the fully devoted heart for God
she lives Monday thru Saturday. She is a great worshipper not because of
her voice, but because of her commitment to God's values.
Whether or not you sing in a church, God is listening to
the sound of our hearts every day. God can tell when people live out
of praise for the Lord or pride in themselves. He hears the
harmonies of love even if the voice sings in monotones. He also detects
the ugliness of sin even when it comes from soothing vocal sounds. God is
not fooled by the volume, He has perfect pitch in hearing our hearts.
Jesus is not impressed with our verbalized intentions, nor our
powerful volumes of praise, if they don’t come from a heart tuned to His
Word. And worse, Jesus recognizes even more than we do that if the heart
is far from God, the mouth won’t be sticking around long either.
Let your life sing music to God’s ears! Choose one way to
obey Jesus & His Word today – and pick one that is not your normal
range. Show the Lord that you want to sing from your heart, not just your
lips. You will discover that the music may not be quite as loud, but
certainly will be much more in tune.
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