THE WILL AND THE DEED

THE WILL AND THE DEED

[Harry Foster]

THE oboe is a rather unusual reed instrument and is difficult to play, but little Leon's father and mother had very special reasons for wanting him to learn to play it. Their reason had started because of the grandfather's wish, but they had taken up the idea wholeheartedly and made it their own.

Leon was still very young, but already he had shown signs of musical instincts. The problem was how to get him interested enough to go through with all the discipline and effort which would be needed if he were to make the grade as a good oboe player. They felt that he needed the will first if it were to be followed by the deed.

Leon's father was himself a gifted musician, in fact, he conducted the orchestra at the Opera House. It so happened that many of the operas had oboe solo parts in them, and it was this that gave the father his idea. As he thought the matter over, he decided on a plan which would need his own orchestra and Leon's mother to work out. And this is what it was.

Whenever there was a solo oboe part in the score, little Leon was taken to hear the opera. His mother would tell him when the oboe part was about to be played and get him specially interested in listening for it. At first he could not follow it well, but little by little he came to recognize the clear reed instrument, so that when he was warned to watch for it he got very excited and was very pleased with himself for being able to distinguish it.

As time went on he got better and better, so that in the end he did not need his mother to tell him to listen for the oboe but proudly told her as soon as he heard it. So it was that the months went by with the constant visits to the opera, not so much to hear the rest of the music as to listen for the oboe, which the boy Leon was learning to appreciate and enjoy. In fact, the instrument was becoming one of the main interests in his life.

Now, thought his father, the time has come for the next step. So on a suitable occasion, when oboes were being mentioned, he asked Leon: "How would you like to learn to play the oboe?" Like it! Leon could hardly answer for excitement. There was nothing he would like more! It had been such a joy to hear it, so much so that he could not think of a greater unless it was to play it for himself.

So the lessons began. It was not easy. His longing to play did not take the place of much hard work and constant exercise. But somehow work seems easier when you want to do it. So it was that in due course Leon not only learned to play the instrument but became a very great oboeist indeed.

Everything became possible once he wanted to do it, and his father had very wisely worked to get him to want it before he worked to get him to do it. So the family plan and pleasure became a fact.

This is a true story, and it is a good one for explaining the text which says: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). Our heavenly Father has a plan for our lives, just as Leon's father had for Leon. And He also begins by arousing in us a desire to do His pleasure. He works in us "to will ...".

That is why we read the Bible if we are Christians. There we find how the Lord Jesus lived, and the more we read it the more we shall find ourselves [12/13] identifying Him, appreciating Him, and in the end longing to be like Him. When God has aroused in us the will to be like Christ then He is able to work in us to bring it to pass. When Leon wanted to play the oboe he had taken the first step towards playing it. This first step had to be followed by many others, for it was not enough to "will" it; he had to "do" it. Too many Christians wish to be like Christ but do not press on with the lessons in daily life which will work the likeness into them. Our heavenly Father is willing to teach us these lessons and to work out His will in us if we really want Him to do so. H. F.

----------------