Sunday evening at our son’s house we reveled in a rare musical experience—a private mini-concert by a gifted violinist, Jenny Armor. She happens to be the daughter of friends, and they’d joined us for dinner.
Not only is Jenny able to play ultra-challenging music with superb technique, she plays from her heart. This week Jenny graduates from a music conservatory in Canada; in the fall she’ll begin a two-year master’s program in Europe.
Here’s a link to a video of Jenny playing a Schoenfeld trio for clarinet, violin, and piano, recorded two years ago.
You can imagine what two more years of training and practice have achieved. But one thing has been apparent since Jenny was very young: making beautiful music brings her blessed happiness.
Of course, Jenny’s violin experience didn’t begin with the works of Schoenfeld, Brahms, or Tchaikovsky. Most likely it was “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” But as she’s grown in knowledge and then put that knowledge into practice (lots of practice!), the pleasure Jenny derives from playing has only expanded.
The same could be said for many endeavors. The journey to become an expert in any field is to increase the pleasure of that activity along the way.
Even in the spiritual realm, a close parallel can be drawn:
To advance in the knowledge of Christ is to increase in happiness.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning by Morning
Someone might ask, “How can just knowing the stories of Jesus increase my happiness?”
First, familiarity with the biblical accounts can provide pleasure. Who doesn’t enjoy a good story? But the delight expands as we identify Christ’s attributes-in-action and then realize they also impact us.
Those attributes would include:
- Compassion—upon those who came to hear him teach and those who approached him for healing (Matthew 14:14; Mark1:40-41, et al.)
- Mercy and grace to forgive sins (Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5, et al.)
- Respect and kindness for all people, including hated Samaritans (John 4), Roman occupiers (Luke 7:1-10), and disregarded pagans (Matthew 15:21-24)
- Selflessness, ultimately expressed as he endured crucifixion (Matthew 20:26-28)
And as we develop awareness, we see more and more evidence of such attributes at work in and around us. Think of it: The King of the universe is participating in our lives (Revelation 17:14; Philippians 2:13)! And growing appreciation leads to greater joy.
The next question becomes, how might we see more evidence of his presence, in order to experience fresh delights? One way is meditation.
For want of [meditation],
much communion is lost and much happiness is missed.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
Meditation on Christ is what turns knowledge about him into an intimate relationship with him. It begins with slow, prayerful reading of New Testament verses or passages. Questions such as these can guide our thinking:
- What does this text reveal about my relationship with Christ?
- What am I learning about God the Son in this passage, about his character and/or activity?
- What encouragement or instruction would he have me internalize and apply to my life?
- What insights might I make a matter of prayer?
And if we record responses in a notebook or journal, we’ll deepen our reflection and receive even greater benefit, because oftentimes to write is to discover.
We can conclude our meditations with praise, for who our Savior is, what he has done, and the understandings brought to light by the Spirit. This prayer might also be written, to augment its imprint on our hearts.
And then, with Puritan minister and author John Flavel, we’ll be able to affirm:
Just as our young friend Jenny surely experiences happy blessedness as she pursues her violin studies, how much more will we experience fresh delight and happy blessedness in Jesus as we study him.
Art & photo credits: http://www.flickr.com; http://www.freerangestock.com; http://www.canva.com
From the Inside Out 