Ready or not, here I come

Do you remember playing hide and seek?  The person charged with 'seeking' would count down to zero and declare in a sing-song type of voice, 'Ready or not, here I come!'.  Upon hearing, 'Ready or not, here I come', we immediately know three things. We identify who the person is by the sound of their voice; by their statement we understand their purpose; and lastly, we hear their voice before we see them.  The prophet Isaiah wrote, 'Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion.'  Isa 51:11.  We can surmise that once we commit to Christ and following Jesus, there is a song that accompanies our Christian pilgrimage.    And more than just accompanying, this song proceeds both from us and before us.  In this month's On That Note we ask, 'What is this unique song, for every son and daughter of God, that announces, “Ready or not, here I come.”?'

The song that declares our walk with the Lord is more than the traditional hymns and powerful songs of praise typified in Western music today, or the mournful yet enchanting maqams of Middle Eastern music.  Jesus said, 'God is Spirit, those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.'  John 4:24.  The unique song of every Christian is the song of truth birthed in our hearts by the Spirit of God.  It's the truth about who we are, who we're to be, and where we're going in our Christian walk.  In an amazing dichotomy, our unique individual songs are all unanimously revealing the presence and work of the Lord too!  The psalmist wrote, 'He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord'.  Psa 40:3.  Interestingly, the writer notes that as we live a Christian life, the expression of which is this song of spirit and truth, others around us won't hear our song but rather see the glory of God!  'Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things; let this be known throughout the earth!'  Psa 12:5.

In the Old Testament, we read of God's people full of despair, held captive in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  Through His prophet Jeremiah, God had spoken to His people in Judah saying, “ … these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years … I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness …'  Jer 25:11,10.  Sure enough, as they refused to heed God's word and ceased living in the 'truth', God removed their song from them.  As they sat and wept by the river in Babylon, remembering their homeland, they wrote, 'May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you [Jerusalem] …'  Psa 137:6.  Without patiently waiting for and living by God's word, what do we have to sing about?  Indeed, our joy is taken from us, we cannot see the way ahead, and we cannot sing with a voice of gladness, 'Ready or not, here I come'.

Lachlan Perrin

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Feature Articles
February 2009

A measure of faith

Faith for resurrection

Calling upon the Lord

Ready or not

Recognising new creation

Learning to shepherd

The word of faith

The fruits of wisdom

Following the Lamb

Once I was blind

What are fences for?