But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9
I always think we can learn from anywhere, even a movie. It isn't always the spiritual things that come along in our lives that can make us stop and think. Today, I just want to share with you some quotes from one of my favourite movies, The Sound of Music.
No doubt most of you have seen The Sound of Music, but have you ever noticed how much common sense is packed in there among the dialog and songs?
Here are some things that have struck me.
"Climb every mountain"
Do all you are capable of. As a Christian, use your full potential. Keep reaching new heights. We have to keep climbing those mountains if we are ever going to accomplish anything for Christ.
"Ford every stream"
Bear up under your burdens. Learn to rely on the Lord to give you strength. It will make it easier to cross the difficult parts of life.
"Follow every rainbow"
Count your blessings. Don't forget to see the rainbows in the sky. Don't let life get you down so that you forget about those blessings that are right in front of you.
"When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything"
Learn to be better. The more you know how to do something, the better you will become at it. As a Christian, we need to grab on to the Word and really take in all it can offer us to improve our walk for the Lord.
"Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could"
Don't expect anything without working. We can't expect our Christian walk to get to the level we need if we don't work at it. We have to put in some time to improving ourselves such as Bible study and prayer. We have to learn what it means to live holy lives.
"When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window."
Look for opportunities. We can't get down when we get blocked from doing something, even if we think it was our way to serve the Lord. He may have a better way.
Be willing to be sensitive to the Lord's leading and find those opportunities of service.
When faced with something totally unexpected, Maria chooses to run away and go back to the Abbey. She is afraid of what she is feeling and of an unknown future. The Abbey represents to her a known future and is a safe place where she doesn't have to feel and deal with life's problems. Realising that there is a problem, Mother Abbess summons Maria. Maria eventually explains what has happened and Mother Abbess advises that staying in the Abbey will not solve the situation. Maria has a mountain that she has to overcome in order to be the person God wants her to be.
These walls were not built to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live. — Mother Abbess
Facing problems is all part and parcel of being human. As Mother Abbess tells Maria via song (Climb Every Mountain) that we have to go forward and climb those mountains that arise and find the shallow water crossings that will make the path to our dreams more easily accessible. Maria has to confront her feelings in order to live the life she was born to live.
Maria had to find the strength and courage to go back to the Von Trapp family home and deal with her problems. She soon realises that the mountain she thought was there was only a small hill.
The Sound of Music is a story of how a young woman finds a life she never dreamed about. Maria always thought that it was going to be a life in the Abbey and not the life of a wife and mother. It shows that when you go searching for God's will in your life, some doors may close but a window will open somewhere else and no matter what mountains you face in the pursuit of your dreams, you may end up with being the person God wants you to be and living the life you were meant to.
I guess one of the reasons I like The Sound of Music so much is that it is all about music. Music has a way of capturing your heart. I think our lives should touch others like music. We should be fine-tuned. We should cause others joy. We should be that spark that gets someone moving. We should be that encourager. We should be that prayer warrior. We don't want to be the discourager, the complainer, or the downer. That is not the sound of music but it is a screeching, grating, horrible sound.
The entire chapter of 1 Peter 2 is talking about getting our act in gear as a Christian. In verse 21 it mentions how we should follow Christ as our example.
We should be that beautiful music that is brought back into the house. Remember when Captain Vonn Trapp says to Maria, "You brought music back into the house. I had forgotten."
Do you need music brought back into your house? Do you need to bring that joy back into your life? Our lives have to honour what we do and we should share that lovely sound with the world.
If we look at 1 Peter 2:9, it talks about how we should be a different kind of people because we are of Christ. That verse mentions how we should ...shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
How much do we do that? We have got to get out there and serve the Lord by climbing those mountains, fording those streams, counting our blessings, building our faith, and looking for those opportunities of service. We have to improve ourselves and be all we can to make that beautiful music as a Christian.
So, are you the sound of music?
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