I just recently found a large, rustic wind chime.  I snatched it right up like it was a treasure that everyone else was after.  Truth is, no one else even knew that it was there.  With its rustic appearance, it blended in with everything around it.  But that’s only because it was displaced.  It wasn’t in a position that demonstrated its beauty, that highlighted its character and purpose.

Until I picked it up from lying there on the shelf.  Hanging from my hand, it’s music, sweet yet rich, caught everyone’s attention.  Suddenly this heap of old metal and faded wood came to life.  This is what it was meant to do.  Its name described its purpose.  Chime.

I’m hoping to find the perfect place to put it out on my back porch this week.  I know it’s not spring yet, but chimes can still ring in winter.  All they need is the right place and some air flow and they will sing regardless of the temperature outside.

As lovers of Jesus, we are like those wind chimes.  He chose us in our “rustic” state.  He saw our beauty.  He knew our potential.  He wanted to bring us home.  And now His desire is to put us in a place where our purpose becomes evident.  Where what we were made for shines.

We call ourselves Christians – Christ like.  Then, like the chime, we need to do what our name says.  Be like Jesus.  Our lives need to ring out what we know and believe.  What we love and live for.  Chimes aren’t really chimes if they’re lying on a shelf somewhere.  They were meant to be musical.

Winds are going to come.  Sometimes in the gentle, peaceful breeze of spring.  Sometimes in the harsh winds of winter.  But my wind chime will ring in either case.  Will we “sing out” in both the sweet and difficult times of life?  We were meant to.  We were made that way, with that capability.

But sometimes the wind tears us down and we’re left once again in a “non-ringing” heap of brokenness.

If my wind chime falls from where it’s hanging, there is nothing in me that will want to leave it there on the ground.  I will pick it up, repair any damage that may have been done, and restore it to its place of purpose.  Where it does what I bought it to do.  Make beautiful music once again.  It will ring and I will smile.

Jesus does the same for us.  He picks us up where we’ve fallen, helps us heal, and restores us.  To that place where we “ring” and He smiles.

May the music of our lives ring out regardless of the “weather”.  May it break through the noise of life and bring refreshment and encouragement to others.  Each our own God-given tune in the exact place where He has put us.  There is no place on earth that doesn’t long for that music.  Let’s all chime in…

Psalm 144:9 – I will sing a new song to you, O God…

Matthew 5:14 – Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. (The Message)