Books make a pretty good paper weight until they are picked up and read. The lessons, knowledge, and even entertainment they will provide are locked within the front and back cover and regardless of how many times you look at the book, pick the book up, or even browse through the pages the message that the book contains will not be obtained until you sit down and read the actual pages and chapters. Too often people buy a book or even rent a book at the library, only to leave it sitting on the coffee table or nightstand. Unfortunately, the knowledge within the book will not be gained until you make the move to read it. No osmosis available here.
What about a bike? How about exercise equipment or sports equipment such as balls, skates, frisbees, or even tennis shoes made for walking or running? Soon we will be welcoming a new year, 2017, and a plethora of New Year resolutions will be made, committing to exercise more or maybe just to start exercising in some cases. Well the resolution is a good start, but the actual action of getting on the bicycle and regularly riding it, or the move to not only join a work out center, but to actually start working out is what has to happen before any of the benefits will be realized. We can go out and purchase the best shoes made for walking or running, but we will never gain the benefits until we put the shoes on the road or trail and put forth the effort to walk or run regularly.
What about music? Our original question was what is music if we don't dance? Well obviously music can be enjoyed by the ear without having to do any type of physical movement, but I would suggest that without some type of movement whether it be head bobbing or actually moving our feet and body in some sort of manner music will not fulfill it's ultimate purpose. That is what music was created for, entertaining the mind and causing us to react to the mood that the music creates in us. Even if you aren't versed in the latest dance craze or you haven't been formally trained in the waltz, foxtrot, salsa, or maybe even the boot scooting boogie, when we hear music our foot begins tapping, our hands start clapping, and our bodies eventually begin swaying and bobbing. That is what music is supposed to do, don't hold back dance!
One other example mentioned in the opening of today's FTM Thought was the idea of what good is food if it is not eaten? Although it's true that some of the stuff we eat today would probably do us more good if we didn't eat it, yet overall if we chose not to eat our bodies would soon grow weak, malnourished, and sickly to the point of eventual starvation and death. So out of all the other examples eating is one of those that we are all going to eventually do just because we have to eat or else. As I mentioned what we eat though is our choice. Healthy or unhealthy we choose what we take into our bodies because as we have concluded we are all going to take in calories on a daily basis.
The concept of eating is utilized throughout the Bible as well. One particular scripture that comes to mind is found in Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Taste and see, the end result won't happen until you have completed the first part of the command. How can we ever "see" if we do not first "taste" the word of God? Just as reading a book, listening to music, getting on your bike, or sitting down to the table to dine requires an action on our end so does our relationship with our Lord and Savior. If you have a relationship I challenge to go deeper, develop a routine, create a private time to spend with our Father. If you do not have a personal relationship it's time to move from the thinking about it stage to the action step of making it happen. Music without dancing is just noise, and a life without a purpose is just wasted air, "taste and see" what can happen if you place your life in the hands of the one that created you for such a time as this!
Coach Carter
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