I play the guitar. It seems effortless to hold the chords and strum the strings these days as I have memorized most of the chords through the years. I remembered when I first pick up guitar playing, I knew nothing of the notes and the sounds and the strings and the fret. They were all strange to me. After burying many hours in books and watching others play the guitar, the strings and frets started to make sense. Sound instead of noise came out as the right keys were pressed and when the strum was executed the right way. This discovery urged me to play the guitar more and more daily. Our Christian walk is in some ways similar to learning to play the guitar. You knew nothing about who God is at first. Later, you found the Bible shines a light as to who God is and how through Jesus you can commute with God, and slowly it changes some habits in your life. Later, you discover that doing things in a certain new way connects you with the Creator God and He is somehow pleased. You simply cannot learn to play the guitar by reading books or watch others play. You must touch, feel, hold, strum, and press the notes to improve your skill. Painful sometimes but needful if you want to be good at it. In the same way, you cannot be an effective Christian by reading books and watching others. It is playing that improves your skill. It is the living that grows you as a Christian. Right note and the right chord, in tune with living out your faith. The mission of God's work is to make you perfect in Christ. The perfect note. It will be music to the others around. It takes discipline to put aside reading books sometimes and instead play the guitar. Believers must learn to take time to practice instead of more reading of the scripture. It is a lifetime of learning and there will always be another level of playing the guitar which can never be mastered. May we all learn to progress in our guitar playing and our Christian living.