I’ll Be There! Will You?
I am not sure whether I am a baritone singer or a monotone. Sometimes I think I can sing tenor but for the most part I’m in the fog-horn section of the choir. I’m pretty sure I’m not completely tone deaf but I’m not so sure a few others aren’t. I suspect they might fit the classification. By the way, I just took an online test for tone-deafness and I passed but not with flying colors – 63.9%.
I have never sung in a barbershop quartet or an all-male choir. I’m not the lead singer in a bluegrass gospel group or in a contemporary Christian group either – not even a back up singer. I haven’t even auditioned for such thing. I know better. I haven’t been asked to fly out to an annual Dove Award celebration for Christian artists. In my wildest dreams, I don’t expect to be inducted into any hall of fame.
But what caused my heart to leap today was an event I will not miss. And I won’t be there as a listener or as an observer. I’ll be there as a singer. It will be the biggest homecoming gathering of singers ever held. We won’t be singing ‘Michael, Row your Boat Ashore, Hallelujah’ or ‘Kum Ba Yah’ or ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
Check this out and see if you’ll be there too:
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne
and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels,
numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea,
and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
(Revelation 5:11-14 ESV)
Whether it is singing or chanting, I will be able to do both. If it’s the millions of angels’ turn to lead the chorus, I will still be there in total accord with their song: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” I’ll be there when every single one from every nation and family tree on earth will lift their arms and point towards the throne and unanimously we will say or sing or chant: ‘TO HIM who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing, honor, glory and might forever and ever.’ It seems as if the universe will erupt in a burst of harmonious song to the Lamb – our Saviour and our Lord!
There’ll be no frogs in our throats on that day. Nor will we be croaking out a wobbly note. No one will be singing off-key – not even me. We won’t be just mouthing the words with a drab looking face while our minds are thousands of miles away in thought. No! We will be very much into it.
Sometimes we go to a hymn sing and our hearts are heavy because of many things. We try to sing; we do our best and then we go home. But in that day we’ll have no more burdens weighing us down. No anxious worries or throbbing emotional pains. Totally relieved of all our burdens and trials, our mouths will be open wide. Our faces will be beaming and our hearts pounding with the thrill of just being there and joining the chorus of praise – Worthy is the Lamb!
I’ll be there! Will you? For sure?
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.
Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay