November 16, 2021 -- Colossians 3:12-14 -- Harmonious Instruments of Praise

Instruments of praise: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:12-14 ESV

When I was young, one annual Christmas time tradition was my parents taking me and my siblings to hear the Messiah, Handel’s famous oratorio. I still love that oratorio and listen to it frequently. How does this memory tie into today’s text? It is that final word “harmony”. Before the formal start of the music, before the conductor would arrive on stage to direct, the various musicians would tune their instruments. It was a cacophony of noise and discord. It seems to me this is what the world is like, before Jesus, the Savior of the World, directs us. His Spirit, living in us, is the Conductor, directing musicians.

Think of it. Unless, once the instruments are tuned, there is a conductor, all the musicians will sound their well-tuned instruments at different times, at different tempos on different pages and even well-tuned instruments would produce clanging and clashing, rather than melodious music. By the Spirit we are conducted in perfect harmony. By the Spirit, we are directed in the love of Jesus Christ so that we can bear with one another and forgive one another. It is the work of our Father, to pour into us the love of Christ, and the love of Jesus is bound into us by the presence of the Spirit Who enables us to be a symphony of praise.

Dear fellow Christian, you are an instrument of God’s holiness. From the place of knowing you are well-loved, you have a rich reservoir of compassion to draw on when others might be testing your patience. The Spirit is directing you to sound the the melody of kindness in every part of your life; at the right time calls on you to add to it the refrain of meekness, by which the strength of God in you is communicated in such a way that it can slip past the defenses of those who might otherwise be hostile to the Song of Songs.

Today’s song includes the prayer.

https://youtu.be/WrvAjQvvvaA

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