I’ve taught piano lessons for nearly forty years, (I started teaching when I was two 🙂 ) and I’ve had all kind of students! One of the most common statements that I hear is, “I played it perfect at home!” One of the greatest blessings about teaching piano is knowing how many of those students are now serving the Lord with their talents!
There have been times whenI have had students that are really talented but they do not succeed because they do not have the discipline or heart to practice. I have also had students with much less talent who have succeeded to the best of their abilities because they DO have the heart and discipline to make it happen.
It’s almost comical to me to see a student that hasn’t practice stumble through a piece. I often have the feeling that they think they are fooling me into believing that they practiced! It ain’t happening!
One of my favorite statements about lessons is this: You do not learn to play an instrument by taking lessons but by practicing!
To be honest, some lessons are real torture! As I sit there week after week listening to music that shows little effort or improvement, I want to send them on their way! If it continues too long, I will talk to the student first and say that it isn’t fair to waste my time or their parents’ finances to continue. I hate doing that, but at times it is necessary.
Then there are the lessons that are pure joy! Those students come in practiced and ready to go. It’s like a musical journey that we walk together, working to improve what we have heard and enjoying the results of their hard work. We become a team working towards the same goal and it’s exciting to both student and teacher.
I couldn’t help thinking about how much that relates to our Christian journey. Oh, how O want what I have just described to be true of God and me – a team working together, enjoying the journey! However, how often does God look down on my walk and endure my effortless wanderings and shallow excuses for not pressing towards the mark? “But Lord, I just didn’t have time this week. You know how busy I was. I just didn’t have the time to read Your Word or time to talk to You in prayer or practice holiness.”
He listens patiently, knowing how much more we could accomplish if we would only have the heart and discipline to do so! I know He doesn’t get discouraged because that’s a sin, but the example really hit home with me today!
So much to do, and so little time! Do we apply that statement to the Lord’s work or ours?
“Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” C.T. Studd
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Beyond Common Sense 