I am the Blood of Christ!
I flow from His body and side.
On Calvary’s painful cross,
He paid for the sinners and died.
I am the Blood of Christ!
The only perfect One.
No other blood could compare
To the blood of God’s only son.
I am the Blood of Christ our Lord
That flowed upon the ground
A lily, a rose, a perfect lamb,
With goodness that abounds.
I am the Blood of Christ,
A symbol of hope for all to see.
A church triumphant sings of me;
Power in the blood that sets men free.[/pullquote4]After one hour, the music stopped. Silence took over but no one noticed. No one applauded. There was no recognition. No one on the platform knew that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days prior to playing in the station, Joshua Bell played his violin to a sold-out crowd in Boston where the seats averaged $100. This free concert in the metro was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities. One of the questions they raised was do we recognize beauty and do we stop to appreciate it.
If the blood that dripped from Christ’s brow, hands and feet could speak to you today, might it not say, “I lived in the most beautiful man that ever walked the earth but few stopped to appreciate the beauty of His life and His unselfish heart.” It is just as true today as it was when he walked the earth — no one on earth has ever matched his influence or exquisiteness of purpose. His was a beauty of truth that embraced a love that was faithful to the end and has remained so throughout eternity (Psalms 27.4). Take time today to take pleasure in His beauty.
Christ’s song of compassion can be heard from the subways of New York to the corridors of the White House, from the slums of Calcutta to the posh streets of Beverly Hills but one must stop to listen to the music before it can change your life. Why not take this very moment to ask Jesus to make Himself more real and relevant to you? If you do, he’ll help you get the music back in your soul. When we take time to listen to God, it creates an intimacy between the Teacher and the disciple. When we passionately embrace His plan, purpose and purity, His redemption draws us close. Like the violinist in the subway, His death has all too often been ignored. Bell’s music, as gifted as it was, cannot change a soul, heal a heart or save a marriage, but the music of heaven can and does! David of old knew the sound of the songs of heaven and wrote about them in his psalms. David, who played a harp, with such incredible anointing, it drove demons from the heart of Saul, understood the power of worship and song.
Practice perfect praise child of God! Let your voice be heard as you sing your favorite hymn or worship son, declaring His faithfulness to a weary generation. Let the redeemed of the Lord ‘say-so’, as we praise Him with gladness. Psalms 107:2. Let a psalm of the Lord come forth like fresh rain upon a dry ground. May we always take time to hear the Master as the Spirit plays the melodies of heaven upon the strings of our heart.
The LORD will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the LORD (Isa. 38:20).
And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered — to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev 5:12).
Hope is the music of the soul which moves us confidently toward our dream and helps us live life as Christ imagined.
