At my church growing up we sang the hymns with the same people playing the organ and piano so the tempo, melody, and rhythm of the songs was always the same and so it was difficult when we went to another church for whatever reason and we played a familiar song with words we knew but with a different tempo, a different melody, or a different rhythm. You can try to sing what you know but when it doesn’t mesh with what is being played it will likely cause you to be hesitant in your singing. When you think you know the rhythm and a song is played the way you think it is supposed to it is comforting and helps you but when it is played differently it causes discomfort and confusion.
While this is true about music it is also true about the rhythms of our faith as well. The rhythms of our faith are the patterns, the strong, regular repeated patterns of our faith. We can find in scriptures both good and bad patterns. Some we are to avoid and some we are to repeat.
In the Old Testament the Israelites had developed a rhythm of rejecting the Lord and then later repenting and then going back to rejecting Him again and rinse and repeat. This pattern can be found in all the peoples in the Old Testament, from Adam and Eve to the Judean kings. On the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as we remember on Palm Sunday some of the Israelites were still rejecting God. Many worshipped him but not everyone. God’s people rejected Jesus who is God instead of worshipping him.
Today those who believe in Jesus Christ are God’s people. We are given a choice to reject the rhythm of rejection or to accept it. God is calling us to live in a rhythm of acceptance, accepting his teaching, accepting his commands, and accepting the call He has placed on our lives. As believers we are all called to serve God in some way shape or form.We are called to worship God, to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. We are called to be disciples who go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. We are called to do so much to serve the Lord to use our gifts and our talents and to accept the call of the Lord has given to us.
Have a blessed week and may you become more like our Lord Jesus Christ.
