Life contains low notes, and high notes.
Birth brings high notes. Sickness and sorrow bring in the low tones, but the heart has rest near the tones of middle C.
Every human being will go through highs, light and joyful. And the lows come requiring more breath through the heaviness.
Refreshment comes when the notes lighten up near the middle C.
When Christ is our center, we have rest and peace. We have a lift from the oppressive lows. Provided for us, a life near to God, is calm refuge the high notes can’t bring.
Christ the center is music of solid ground, stable sound, no sharps, no flats.
Constant.
No matter what.
We’ve all missed God’s perfection. No one is righteous, not one . . . Romans 3 gives a full account of this minor melody. But faith in Christ Jesus frees us from death’s blow, and we are free and forgiven:
(This) righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith Romans 3:22-25.
When we choose to believe and put Christ as our center, He restores a new song of praise and thankfulness.
Just as the flow of a melodious song, Jesus abides in our hearts filled with praise.
Through trial and strife, though no-one might understand, Jesus stands, constant, compassionate, caring, and as middle C, true:
Do we leave the lows, and come down from the highs, and move to the center and open our ears about God’s gift in Christ:
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God Romans 6:10.
Middle C.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus Romans 6:11.
Not condemnation, only conviction to change and hope:
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace Romans 6:14.
Who needs a new tune? A new story, a new song?
Call on Christ to be the center. He can change anyone’s tune. Romans 6:17-23, The Message:
But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master,
one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing – not caring about others, not caring about God – the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter.
But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!
Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master, Romans 6:17-23.
There’s nothing like a new song of salvation, thankfulness, and freedom.
If the Lord is tugging at your heart to receive His Son, Jesus. Pray and call on His glorious name today.
“Jesus, forgive me.”
He will.
“Jesus, take all the past hurt, pain, and sin.
He does.
“Jesus make me new. Fill me with Your Spirit.”
He is constant.
Constant like middle C!