Stay On The Click

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/qA7v_6BKcS0?si=TS-c1mL0YVO02d9p

“Stay On The Click”

Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.  Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

 

On our worship team at church, we use an in ear monitor system that has a program which includes a metronome.  When I first joined the worship team 4 years ago, I was informed that there is a “click” that I would need to get used to and follow so that the whole team stays on beat.  What’s more is that I’m one of the drummers, so it’s absolutely crucial that I do my best to stay on beat.  Somewhat often, it’s easy for any one of us on the team to get off the beat or click.  On some songs, with the feeling and flow, it’s easy to get carried away and stray from the click.  When that happens, it immediately throws us all off and we try to get back on track.

 

I have found that I really like the click and it’s so helpful for me as a drummer.  If I didn’t have that click, I know that I would either go too slow or go too fast.  The click is intended, of course, to keep us on all the right beat so that the song speed flows well. 

 

As a praise team, we all try very hard to stay on the click so that the flow goes well and we can lead worship well for the congregation.  We do our best to follow the click so that we help bring a worshipful experience.  As I consider this effort that we put into the worship team, it reminds me how God wants us to stay in His Word and do our best to stay true to following Him as He leads us each day. 

 

Just as our praise team at church needs to stay on the click to provide a meaningful worship experience, we need to stay in God’s word so that our lives stay enriched with the life God intended for us.  God’s Word is the “click” that keeps our lives flowing, even with the challenges that life throws at us.  When the enemy throws obstacles and temptations in our way, God encourages us to stay on the course. 

 

So often in our lives, we think we know what is best and we like to make up our own rhythm.  This takes us off the rhythm of where God wants us and things go south quickly.

 

Just imagine if I started playing an entirely different song on the praise team than the one everyone else is playing?  Everyone on the team would probably say, “Uh….Zach?  What’s going on?”  Everything would be thrown off if I were to play an entirely different rhythm than the rest of the team.

 

God has a rhythm He wants us to follow.  If we go off the click and do our own thing, it’s not a good situation and we can fall far from where we need to be. 

 

Let’s stay on the click pattern God has for our lives and our best to follow His Word.

Break The Routine Of Autopilot

 YouTube Channel Video Devo

https://youtu.be/7lNIoXCy818?si=1BrASVn_NRlByOQR

“Break The Routine Of Autopilot”

Ecclesiastes 1:5 NLT

The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.

 

This past week, we read chapter 1 in Ecclesiastes in our men’s Bible study group.  This passage stuck out to me and the word that really jumped out was “hurries”. I read this passage and I think of daily routines.  The sun rises in our day, we often hurry through the day, then the sun sets, we go to bed and we do it all over again the next day, the day after and so on. 

 

I’m not at all against having a routine each day, but I do think we so often get into autopilot mode with our routines and we don’t think twice about the hurried state we are so often in each day.  We go from one thing to the next and we often are doing this at a high rate of speed through the day. 

 

When I get home from work each day, I often find myself cleaning things and taking little time to sit down and just relax.  Then, on the weekends, I find myself making a long list of things I need to take care of and I’m off to completing those.  Again, it’s not at all wrong having lists of things we need to take care of, but we do get into such routines that we don’t break away from and just enjoy the moments God gives us. 

 

My wife and youngest daughter are often reminding me to just sit down and take breaks from the routines I’m into each evening and on the weekends.  If we are focused on all of our routines and the tasks we need to take care of day in and day out, then that is meaningless.  We must balance chores with spending time with family and just enjoying some down time.  We were never meant to go full blast all day, every day and not take time to take life in and just chill. 

 

Years ago, I read a book by John Mark Comer titled, “The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry” and it really got my attention.  There are times in our lives when we just need to sit and do absolutely nothing.  Watching a sunrise or a sunset.  Sitting down and watching traffic go by or watching people.  Too often, we fight initial boredom by taking out our phones and passing the time scrolling, looking up things online or checking e-mails. 

 

I want to encourage all of us to be intentional about breaking out of our routines each day and taking time to notice our surroundings and get of autopilot so that we don’t miss opportunities around us.  Opportunities to be alone and take life in and also opportunities God puts around us with various people. 

 

Let us break the routine of autopilot.