Friday, July 22, 2016

Practice Makes...

In 1 Chronicles 15, we have a picture of a very important event in the history of the nation of Israel. The Ark of the Covenant is being returned to Jerusalem!! They had tried, unsuccessfully, to bring it before, but had forgotten God's instructions as to the handling of the ark. They place it on a cart and drove it towards the city. However, a well meaning Israelite touched the ark as the cart shuddered because the oxen stumbled. This resulted in his death. We may be tempted to look at this situation and ask God why he smote the Israelite, but we need to keep in mind that God has prescribed and shown the method for how He is to be approached. we can come boldly before His throne, but we must not approach Him flippantly, or without regard for who He is.


David now realized his error and had the Levites sanctify themselves and prepare properly for the return of the ark. There were singers, string players, trumpets, cymbals-so many instruments and voices! And then we come to one seemingly small detail about a man named Chenaniah.

1 Chronicles 15:22 says:
                                        And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites
                                        was for song: he instructed about the
                                        song, because he was skillful.

In the midst of all this commotion and seeming chaos, we find a man who was selected to be the leader, and we are told why as well-he was skillful. The Bible does not say that he was a natural born talent. It does not say that he was a child prodigy. Too often in churches we depend on talent alone to accomplish God's work. there is not enough talent in a mega church to compare to the ability that God gives those whom he calls to fulfill His work.

Chenaniah was skillful. I imagine that he learned music the way that anyone else did/does. I imagine that he practiced what he was taught. That he spent time preparing and honing his skills to be ready not only for the event but for others as well. He was chosen out of all of the other musicians present to lead.

To those of us who are leaders of music in our churches, this should be a big signal to us first. We should never feel as though we have arrived. We should continue to sharpen and hone our skills in music as well. If you like to lead with guitar, practice guitar. If you like to approach things more traditionally and use the wave of an arm, practice conducting and how you will signal the congregation to sing each part of the music. Do you want to slow down? How will you show the people? Will they know what you mean by how you lead.

For those of you who are part of the team, but are not necessarily the "leaders", practice as well. When we bring our offering of worship before God, it should be our best, not the leftovers we had at the end. Remember that Cain's sacrifice was not accepted partly because it was not his best. It was merely an outward type of religion with no real belief or faith in it. Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. (Heb. 11:4) We too should seek to offer that more excellent sacrifice to God as well.

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