THE SINGING LESSON

                                                                                      THE SINGING LESSON

              “This is NOT a democracy!”
              So thundered my new singing instructor at my first lesson –such a nice, kind, sensitive gentleman, but a teensy bit scary at this moment.
              “You have to do what I tell you, if you want to succeed!” Once again he sounded the keyboard notes of the “C” scale.
“Now, try it again:  Ma, ma –smile, relax, open your mouth –Ma-NOT Moh, NOT muh, NOT Maa –MMMM-ahhh - Ma-ri-ah, Mah, Mah - there, that’s it, now all the way up the scale!”
              Yes, if I want to learn the proper way to sing, I need to obey everything the expert tells me to do.  God has sent this highly-accomplished world-class vocalist and teacher right to my small home town as a gift to all of us, and to me personally as I try to use my musical talents in the Lord’s service, and simply to make them more beautiful for my and others’ enjoyment.  God has given us all things richly to enjoy.
              The analogy begins to take hold of my soul:  just as I must obey the expert singing instructor to succeed in singing, so must I obey EVERY thing the Lord Himself commands.  He, our Expert in all things, speaks through His Word, in order to give us spiritual success –in fact, success in EVERY endeavor, including singing.
Not a democracy… no.
Do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8 (NIV).





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