God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than mumble along. Should they? Not at all, for singing is a matter of the heart before it is a matter of pitch or tone.

In Ephesians 5:18-19 Paul writes, “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” What matters far more than the sound that comes out of the mouth is the posture of the heart. There is more beauty in an off-pitch voice that is the outpouring of a submissive heart than in a perfectly pitched voice that is the outpouring of a rebellious heart.
Though few Christians have voices that are truly professional, every Christian has a voice that can be confessional—that confesses and publicly professes the great truths of the Christian faith. Jonathan Leeman says rightly that “the most beautiful instrument in any Christian service is the sound of the congregation singing.”

(This little devotional is drawn from my book Knowing and Enjoying God)

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

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(Yesterday on the blog: The Secret of a Blessed, Useful Life)
What Do Israel’s Food Laws Have to Do with Our Holiness?
“When we get to Leviticus in our Bible reading plans, how many of us read every word of chapter 11? It’s not most people’s idea of engaging literature. The Lord provides a long list of which animals were ritually pure and which were ritually impure. The pure ones could be eaten; the impure ones couldn’t. If we do make it through the list, one of the first questions we ask is ‘Why? What makes an animal pure or impure?’ Interpreters have ventured various guesses.”
Avoiding Quick Repairs in Counseling
This article encourages Christian counselors to resist the temptation toward quick repairs.
Is creation worth fighting about?
“In the creation vs. theistic evolution debate, there are a lot of Christians who aren’t prepared to pick a side. They aren’t loyal to 6 days or billions of years, perhaps believing they need a theology or science degree to be qualified to take a stand. They don’t want to be forced to pick one team over the other. However, when the question is ‘Does this matter?’ then not picking a side is still picking a side. Refusing to choose is only legitimate if this is no big thing. So is it really no big thing… or is it huge?”
50+ Free Teaching Series in the Ligonier App
The Ligonier Ministries app lets you carry a theological library wherever you go. More than 50 teaching series are available to stream for free. And for a limited time, app users can freely stream Jason Helopoulos’ new series, Created for Worship. If you haven’t already, make sure you update the app to unlock helpful new features. Now you can search Ligonier’s deep library to find biblical teaching even more easily. (Sponsored Link)
A Letter to the Anxious Christian
Blake has a letter to the anxious Christian. That probably describes all of us from time to time…
Does Jesus tell us we “can’t get no satisfaction”?
John Beeson: “Sexual sin begins with our heart and moves to our imagination and only then to our actions. There was never a person in the history of the world who committed sexual sin who didn’t initiate that sin in his heart and then his imagination.”
What Does Using ChatGPT Look Like for Christians?
Writing for TGC India, Akshay Rajkumar writes about ChatGPT. “Yesterday’s science fiction is today’s reality. Such power is too wonderful for us, too lofty for us to contain. What are we to make of it? What does wisdom look like in a world of increasing artificial intelligence? How should Christians think about using ChatGPT?”
Flashback: Why Are You Friends with Your Friends?
When there is benefit to be gained by our associations we gladly proclaim people our friends. But when that association threatens to bring us shame, we quickly deny them. Why?

The very easiest way to give resurrection to old corruptions is to erect a trophy over their graves; they will at once lift up their heads and howl out, “We are alive still.” —C.H. Spurgeon

C.S. Lewis famously said that while God whispers to us in our pleasures, he shouts to us in our pains. And, indeed, as we pass through trials and afflictions we find that God speaks his truths to us in fresh and encouraging ways. And then it’s also true that we tend not to appreciate our pleasures until they are contrasted by pains—and that’s the point of this lovely quote by J.R. Miller which I trust you’ll enjoy reading and reflecting upon.

We do not know what God is to us—until, in some way, we lose the sense of his presence and the consciousness of his love. This is true of all our blessings. We do not know their value to us until they are lost or imperiled.
We do not prize health until it is shattered and broken, and we can never have it restored again.
We do not recognize the richness and splendor of youth until it has fled, with all its glorious opportunities, and worlds cannot buy it back.
We do not appreciate the comforts and blessings of Providence until we have been deprived of them, and are driven out of warm homes into the cold paths of a dreary world.
We do not estimate the value of our facilities for education and improvement, until the period of these opportunities is gone, and we must enter the hard battle of life unfurnished and unequipped.
We do not know how much our friends are to us—until they lie before us silent and cold. Ofttimes the vacant chair, or the deep, unbroken loneliness about us—is the first revealer of the worth of one we have never duly prized.

The lesson, of course, is to reflect on every blessing as we enjoy it and to return thanks to God for each and every one.