Do Re Mi Fa So!

Today's devotion is based on 1 Chronicles chapters 5 to 8, but there's a section called "If time is short, focus on..." As you can imagine, instead of reading 4 chapters, I skipped to the "if time is short" section and focused on 6:1-49. If you flip to this passage, you can see that it is a super easy read as it is a genealogy of Israel's priesthood. The author of 1 Chronicles spent 31 verses naming people whom "David put in charge of the music in the house of the Lord". The devotion booklet reminds us that those who serve God's people by planning and providing music for our times of worship have a unique privilege and carry a special responsibility. They direct God's people to their Lord and help them to open up their hearts to Him in worship. Of course, God doesn't look at our excellent technical performance but rather, he looks at the performance of our hearts, the undivided worship of a heart made righteous by the blood of Christ.

The application for this passage is that we're encouraged to find a way to express our appreciation to our worship leaders and church musicians, to pray for them and that the congregation worships from righteous and thankful hearts.

I had the privilege of joining the Chinese choir during my "official" last six months at MCAC. I was telling Yeung C-moe how amazing it is that the choir members have been so devoted all these years. Even though I sometimes hear them complain about choir practices and the long hours they have to put into practices, kudos to them for all these years of service! It takes a lot of commitment and sacrifices to serve in the choir. They are at church 45 minutes before service starts to warm up their voices and to practice the day's song offering. After Service, they are to put in a good 2-3 hours of practice every week. No more lunch out, no more play-time on Sundays because by the time choir practices finishes, it'd be dark out (well, in the winter anyways). Many churches I have visited does not even have a choir during Sunday Services. I am proud of our church for such an amazing and devoted choir.

Our choir conductors, Yeung C-moe and Josephine, must spend countless hours choosing and preparing songs each week and the energy they put into each choir practice is worth appreciating. And of course, my Goh Goh pianist. Watching him sit at the piano on Sundays from 10:30am all the way through service (on the days he has to play for singspiration/worship) to 1:00pm and then again from 2:15pm to sometimes 5-6pm including small group practices. Sometimes the girls and guys takes turn resting and practice, he doesn't get to rest because he's often the only one at the piano. He must have a sore back every week!

Let us help encourage our worship leaders and choir members and remember them in our prayers.