Now let us sing
I remember this chorus we used to sing at music class back in junior school and the funny thing is all these several years later I can still hear the harmony of our innocent little voices boldly calling down the power of God without guilt or inflated expectation.
Boys leading: “Now let us sing”
Girls echoing: “Sing till the power of the Lord comes down”
Boys: “Now let us sing”
Girls: “Sing till the power of the Lord comes down”
Boys: “Lift up your voice”
Girls: “Lift up your voice”
Boys: “Be not afraid”
Girls: “Be not afraid”
Together: “Sing till the power of the Lord comes down”
[Kyle Preparatory School in the 90’s]
Side note: a young mind is a beautiful canvas to paint the ways of the Lord because even as they grow older or other things attempt to influence their thinking they always have a reset point to recalibrate their faith. I wonder what songs our children are singing at assembly and whether they still have music classes where they are taught the joys of harmony when many voices are combined to sing one constructive message.
Every now and then I ask myself what kind of life I would have lived if my foundation wasn’t set in Christian principles from a young age. This is not to say I have always stayed in God’s perfect will for my life but I feel that having this point of reset has done tremendous good especially now when I am growing more deeply inclined towards Him.
It is a biblical principle to teach our children the ways of God when they are young so that they may grow in those ways. So though my readership is not physically young anymore I will assume we are spiritually young (not immature but young in the sense of ever growing until we are re-united with Christ).
As such my aim will always be to share constructive insights that prompt us to question reality for the sake of a real connection with God not one that is manufactured for social acceptability. You’d be surprised at how present we can be at Church on Sunday but how absent from God we are because we are simply going through the motions.
A sheep’s most powerful weapon
For a second there I just pictured an animated sheep wearing a menacing frown on a war painted face clad to the nines with body fitted armour shaking an angry fist at the wolf lurking around its barracks. I think this is how a praying Christian looks in the spirit but don’t quote me it’s literally my imagination at work here. Sheep are generally not known for being beefed up and ready for battle in fact they need to be closely kept and monitored because left to their own devices there would be no flock to speak of, but this doesn’t mean they are completely harmless fuzz-balls left at the mercy of an enemy’s razor sharp teeth.
A sheep’s most powerful weapon is its voice when it bleats in distress. Its willingness to call for help regardless of it being the culprit who landed itself in trouble or not and the expectation that a reply will come to its call make it a victor. Sometimes knowing who to call is more powerful than trying to stand your own ground against a spiritual enemy.
I know one such sheep who got caught up in the frills of a hot momma, she took him to places he had never been before and she got so far under his skin that he confided the source of his God given strength. Like swine she had devoured the precious pearls he had cast unwittingly before her and he got into trouble for it. He was left blinded and ashamed only a husk when the power had gone from him and when we look at it what else could he expect messing around with Delilah’s delightful lies about their forever.
A forever she had no intentions of giving him once he was safely dead and she was on her wayward way to the next one. Samson’s situation was bad, he had surely let God down, but just when we thought he might wallow in self pity he cried out to God because this whole debacle had put him back in his sheepish place.
If you’re anything like me you’ve been seduced by the enemy’s lies and gone blind, maybe even groped about in the dark hoping you could find the light switch on your own and save face before the fall from grace only to realise that you couldn’t save yourself even if you tried. My prayer today is for someone who is choked up on their mistakes and afraid to come back to God for fear of bursting into flames like a vampire exposed to sunlight.
I boldly lift up my voice to say Father, thank you that your love and mercy is beyond anything we will ever comprehend, that the moment we call you to be our shepherd your rod and staff are the tools for our salvation and no matter how deep we are in the debts of sin the ransom has been paid in full. Father thank you for the option to come home, please help us to take ownership of our mistakes and forgive ourselves for the times we have let you down..help us to trace our steps back to you and be yours again, now and all the days of our lives..Amen
