The Beat Goes On

My 13-year-old son is quite the musician. He’s a guitarist, a trombonist and a drummer. A drummer…who doesn’t necessarily need a drum. He has a drum set, but his drumming certainly isn’t contained to it. The table is his drum. The sofa is his drum. The wall? Drum. The desk, the chair, his sister? Drum, drum, drum. He was baking cookies with me last week and even the cookie sheet was a drum. Okay, actually that was more of a cymbal—but there was still definite drummage.

Daniel drums without even knowing he’s drumming. It’s the percussion that never ends. The other day I couldn’t stand it any more. My left eye was twitching—on the beat. I said, “Daniel! Could you PLEASE stop percussing for five minutes?”

“Sure,” he said without missing a beat (as it were). Then he looked at his watch.

I wonder how many things I do without thinking. No doubt there are a gajillion annoying habits I’m not aware of that are causing eyes to twitch left and right.

Oh, that the Lord would grow me to the place where there are more things I do without thinking that bless than things I do without thinking that annoy. In 1 Corinthians 12:31, Paul says, “But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.” Then he begins what we call the “love chapter.” Love should be a way of life for those of us who follow Christ. Loving others selflessly should happen as naturally and rhythmically as those tap, tap, taps on the desk—loving almost without having to think about it.

Verses 4-7 in 1 Corinthians 13 tell us what that kind of love looks like: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (NLT).

How important is our sacrificial love for others to our Heavenly Father? We’re told in 1 Corinthians 13:1 that we could speak every language on earth—we could even speak the language of angels. But if we don’t love others, even Angel-eese sounds like a bunch of annoying noise. As a matter of fact, it says that without love, even if I’m speaking the sweetest language there is, “I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” The last thing I want to do is cause a twitch in the eye of the God I love.

I want to love others because I do love Him. And I want to love consistently, steadily—without missing a beat.

Rhonda Rhea is a radio personality and a conference speaker for events all over the country. She is the wife of First Baptist Church of Troy, Missouri’s pastor, Richie Rhea, and mother of five, two in college and three teens at home. She has authored several fun and fruitful books, including Amusing Grace, Who Put the Cat in the Fridge, I’m Dreaming of Some White Chocolate, and more. Her newest book, High Heels in High Places—Walking Worthy in Way Cute Shoes is scheduled for release this September. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.net.