Parents, are you becoming ambivalent? In elementary school, my mother decided I needed to learn how to play the guitar. I was thinking great, I’ll learn 70’s rock and roll guitar. She was thinking I would learn classical country or bluegrass. She was paying for the lessons so guess which kind of guitar teacher I was learning from? My friends were learning “Johnny B. Goode,” I was learning the guitar version of classic Irish fiddle tunes, because it was my instructor’s favorite. These were not even the lively fiddle tunes of Riverdance, but the slower more dirgelike songs. Sitting still for more than 30 minutes a day to practice guitar after all day at school was difficult enough for me, but add in a little ADHD, an aversion to practice, and the fact that I was not thrilled to learn the songs being taught… surprise... I didn’t become a guitar player. My mother, however, was not shaken, she put me in the school talent show… it was miserable. My face got hot, my fingers were shaking, it was not good at all. The audience gave the obligatory clap when it was over, but had I been able to raise my head from the traumatic shell shocking embarrassment as I played, I’m sure I would have seen forced grimacing smiles to cover the “get this poor kid off the stage” that their minds were silently shouting. It was like a slow motion train wreck that rewound and started over every time I messed up and started the song over. I had become ambivalent to playing guitar. On one hand, I liked the idea of playing the energetic music of rock and roll guitar to the delight of audiences everywhere, on the other hand, that was not what I was learning or practicing. So, not surprisingly, I fell away from guitar. My friends went on to play in garage bands, learning new rifts of the great guitarists of the late 70’s and 80’s classic hair bands. Some keep playing all their lives. While I was glad my mother cared enough to get me guitar lessons, I never owned it, never loved it. It never became a personal passion to me to play the guitar. It didn’t resonate within me, so when it became more difficult to keep practicing with the increasing distractions in my life, I didn’t stick with it. My puppy love with the idea of playing the guitar grew cold.
Jesus warns that many will fall away from their relationship with Him, when things become difficult and the world begins to fall apart. If we just like the idea of being a Jesus follower, it won’t be enough to live out our faith and keep loving people, when things continually get tougher in this world. Jesus says, “And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:10-13 (ESV) When we are truly personally lovingly attached to Jesus, there is a joy that goes with us. Even when things get difficult and the world is not what we expected, we will keep on loving Jesus and loving others, even our enemies. If our relationship with Jesus is real we won’t fall away, we will have enough love and joy supplied by Him to make it through the difficult days. This pandemic has brought some difficult days, and it promises to bring more before it’s all said and done. There will be a temptation to quit living out of joy and love and start living out of fear and frustration. Keep loving Jesus. Don’t let your love grow cold.
Hang in there people! God it with us! I’m praying for you all!
