March 25: 1 Thessalonians 3–1 Timothy 5

By Connie Jones

When Paul urges the Thessalonians to live out Christ’s teaching “not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance” (1 Thess 4:1, The Message), I was reminded of choir practice. Sometimes when we’re rehearsing an anthem for Sunday morning, Stanley will “exhort” us to “bounce through a musical phrase, “dance lightly over the notes,” or “sing like we’re ringing bells.” Then he’ll go on to tell us what he’s actually hearing—which is more like we’re “plodding soldiers on a death march,” in that we’re landing so heavily on each note the “joyful dance” of the music is lost. We laugh in recognition of the “dogged serious plodding” we are in fact, doing, and then strive, over and over, to “make the music dance.”

If, as followers of Jesus, we take ourselves and the details of the journey too seriously—if we worry about “getting it right”—then we lose our spontaneity, we get bogged down, we don’t experience the beauty, and we’re certainly not having any fun!  On a regular basis we need to recognize our serious plodding and break into “living, spirited dance”!

Thanks, Paul!

Thanks, Stanley!