Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the professional violinist who received a standing ovation after performing a concert one evening. As soon as he finished playing, he received a thunderous applause! He had certainly delivered a magnificent performance. In spite of the positive feedback however, the young violinist, with tears streaming down his cheeks, walked off the stage, dejected. The stagehand saw him and asked, “Why are you so sad? Those people are going crazy out there and you are crying. I don’t understand.”

            The violinist replied, “Do you see the one man in the center down there? He’s still sitting.”

            The stagehand answered, “Yeah, so what? There are two thousand other people who are standing!”

            “This is true, but you don’t understand.” came the violinist’s response, “That man down there in the middle is my dad. He’s also my violin teacher. If he doesn’t stand, it doesn’t matter what two thousand other people do.”

            The moral of the story: If God doesn’t applaud when He sees how we live our lives, it doesn’t matter what everyone else does.

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

(Galatians 1:10 ESV)

In Christ,
Jonathan Anderson