License

“Yes! A piano; at last!” gasped James staring at the black and white keys in front of him. His dream had come true; he would now be the pianist he had always wanted to be. His father had been true to his word when he said that if James did well in his exams he would buy a piano for his 13^th birthday. Now James sat at the piano imagining the melodies that would be played, the songs that would be written, even the fame that could be his. As he sat there, he glanced momentarily at his dad as if to say “Watch this” and then went for it. His fingers plunged into the keys, and ran up and down with increasing volume as his confidence grew and grew. Finally he stopped, looked up at his dad, and said, “So what do you think?” His dad was staring in disbelief, “James! Sorry, but that was terrible! You need lessons son; you need to know how. That was not music!”
Freedom of a piano does not give us the ability to produce music. We are only free to produce music when we have mastered the piano. This is true of much of life; we often think we are free when we are first given the car-keys, or first allowed to date, or first allowed to drink, or first given a pay cheque. But having the freedom to a car, or to date, or to drink, or to money, can be dangerous if we have not been taught how to handle those things in a healthy way, and a way that brings music to our Heavenly Father’s ears. Today we are discussing the balance between license and legalism; freedom and restraint. More